UPDATE 9/18/17
KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. – A Nitro police officer caught on camera in an off-duty incident involving a gun has been been terminated from the police force.
Chief Bobby Eggleton tells WSAZ Richard Foster was served a letter of termination last week after the completion of an internal investigation.
A video originally posted to Facebook shows Foster, who appears to be off duty, holding a gun while he’s exchanging words with two different men.
“I regret that I have been forced to make this decision,” Chief Eggleton said.
Foster turned himself in to police on a brandishing warrant after the incident.
A court hearing is scheduled for November for that charge.
“I and the public expect officers of the law to act in a professional manner at all times,” Chief Eggleton said.
2017/07/14
A video, posted to Facebook on this week, revealed about one minute of an argument between an armed off-duty police captain and several men.
Capt. Richard Foster who is also a firearms instructor at Nitro Police Department and NRA LE firearms instructor & chief range safety officer at the NRA confronted the men as he held what appears to be a handgun at his side.
“You’re not going to talk to my mother like that — I promise you right now,” he said to the men.
Foster will be on administrative leave as an internal investigation into the incident is underway, said Chief Bobby Eggleton, who took over leadership of the department last week.
“He has been relieved of his police weapons, vehicle and police identification,” Eggleton said in an statement to reporters.
Eggleton said the captain is also the subject of a criminal investigation by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.
The office will decide whether charges should be filed against Foster, who has been with the police department for more than 10 years, Eggleton said.
“We are just as disturbed as everyone else by what the video looks like, but we want to see what everything is before we make a determination,” he said.
Throughout the video, the men repeatedly told Foster their argument was being recorded. “I don’t care,” he responded.
Foster later walked away, the handgun still at his side, and one of the men said he would soon file charges.
“I don’t give a damn who’s a cop — that’ll be his badge,” he said during the recording.
Source: http://www.wvgazettemail.com