Local woman sentenced to three years suspended for assault on a police officer

An Anaconda woman has been sentenced to a three-year suspended commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections for felony assault on a peace officer.

Jennifer Marie Foster appeared in 3rd Judicial District Court before Judge Jeffrey Dahood on Wednesday, Oct. 15 where she admitted to assaulting a peace officer, a felony. Both the prosecution and defense waived conducting a pre-sentencing investigation so the matter proceeded to sentencing.

To go along with the suspended sentence, the court ordered the defendant to abide by all conditions ordered by the court and set forth in judgment, gave her credit for time served and exonerated all her bonds.

In exchange for a guilty plea, the state is recommending a three-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections, all suspended, supervised by the Office of Probation and Parole; acknowledging “that this subsection is not designated as a violent offense under the SVOR Act, and the defendant is not required to register; that the defendant pay any lawfully claimed restitution; and the state isn’t recommending a fine.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, a charge of partner or family member assault, third offense, and a charge of resisting arrest were dismissed.

According to the affidavit filed by the State of Montana in support of the charge, on Feb. 8, 2025 ADLC Dispatch received a call from the defendant in which she told dispatch she had to “break in” to her home and that her boyfriend wasn’t allowing her access to her home.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers noticed the defendant was visibly intoxicated and that  she made “multiple conflicting statements as to the amount of alcohol she had consumed,” the affidavit states.

The defendant told officers that she had broken out the window of the house after her boyfriend “refused to unlock the home for her as he was plowing snow in front of the residence.” She also told officers that her boyfriend was trying to evict her from the home and that she wouldn’t leave unless subjected to formal legal proceedings.

The defendant denied that the argument between her and her boyfriend became physical and said they just verbally argued.

While speaking with officers outside of the residence, the defendant’s boyfriend said

The defendant was heavily intoxicated and that he could not communicate with her while she was “worked up and yelling at him,” according to the affidavit.

The defendant’s boyfriend told officers that the defendant threw a cellphone at him during their argument and it had hit him in the chest.

He told officers that the defendant routinely threatened him “and that when she gets agitated she was demonstrating this night,” that he feared the defendant would act on her threats of harming him.

As Sergeant Richard Pasha was attempting to place handcuffs on the defendant while arresting her for partner/family member assault, she attempted to pull away from Sergeant Pasha and “continued to speak in a loud voice close to Sergeant Pasha’s face,” the affidavit states.

Sergeant Pasha instructed the defendant to quit spitting in his face while trying to place her in custody, and he and Officer Nelson had to push the defendant against the refrigerator in her kitchen to gain control of her to effect her arrest, according to the affidavit.

As officers escorted the defendant out of the home, she yelled expletives at her boyfriend “and made comments towards him of a sexual nature.” She then began using excessive profanity toward the officers and threatened to sue them on multiple occasions.

During transportation to the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Detention Center, the defendant continued to scream and yell at officers from the back seat of the patrol car for the entire drive and accused officers of lying about her and of arresting her illegally, the affidavit states.

When officers got the defendant out of the car and tried taking her into the detention center, the defendant tried pulling away from and Officer Nelson placed the defendant against the wall to gain control of her, according to the affidavit.

The defendant then began kicking towards Officers Beasley and Nelson and “kicked Officer Nelson several times, one of those times in the groin, causing physical pain to Officer Nelson,” the affidavit states.

Upon Officers getting the defendant inside the Detention Center, she refused to follow commands of Law Enforcement and of Detention Officers, and detention staff indicated that they needed to place the defendant into a visitation cell until she could calm down to cooperate with the booking process, the affidavit states.

The defendant refused to comply with requests to walk to the visitation cell and had to be carried by four officers and physically placed into the cell, she remained agitated and continued to yell profanities at Officers Beasley and Nelson and Detention staff during the duration of their interaction with her, according to the affidavit. 

A person convicted of assault on a peace officer faces a sentence of between two and 10 years and may be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000.