photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Sean Michael Foster

A Topeka man who led police on a chase through Lawrence and into Johnson County with his wife and three of his children in his car was sentenced to 35 months in prison on Thursday.

Sean Michael Foster, 33, was convicted in Douglas County District Court of one felony count of attempted fleeing from a law enforcement officer, one felony count of aggravated endangerment of a child and one felony count of criminal threat after he pleaded no contest in November 2022 to the charges as part of a plea agreement. Additional charges of felony aggravated assault, felony aggravated battery and felony endangerment of a child were dismissed as part of the deal.

The charges relate to two incidents starting on May 11, 2022, when Foster was charged with threatening a man with an ax and battering his wife, according to charging documents. Two days later when police attempted to initiate a traffic stop on Foster to confront him about the incident, Foster fled with his wife and kids in the car.

As the Journal-World previously reported, police said at the time that Foster was first spotted at 31st and Iowa streets, where an officer tried to pull him over but he fled. He was then seen near the University of Kansas campus, where KU police pursued him for a short time. He was seen again by Douglas County sheriff’s deputies near East 23rd Street and Haskell Avenue; deputies pursued him out of the city east on Kansas Highway 10. Deputies intended to disable the vehicle after Foster drove into oncoming traffic, but Foster turned onto Edgerton Road in Johnson County before he could be stopped.

The chase finally came to an end when Foster drove into a corn field, but the field was too muddy to drive through and Foster’s vehicle became stuck. Officers then arrested him without further incident.

During Foster’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, his defense attorney, Brenda Clary, argued for a departure in sentencing and asked Judge James McCabria to give Foster probation in accordance with Foster’s plea agreement. Clary said that Foster was not medicated for his various mental conditions and was high on methamphetamine at the time of the chase.

Foster’s plea agreement with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office stipulated that Foster was on probation in Wyandotte County for drug charges at the time of the incident and that if he was granted probation in Douglas County he would be allowed to resume his probation in Wyandotte County and pursue drug treatment.

“You don’t get sober in custody; you get sober in the community,” Clary said.

In the courtroom were Foster’s wife and two of the children who were in the car the day of the chase. Clary said they came to support Foster and wanted him to be granted probation.

Foster said that he was remorseful and that he threatened the man with an ax only after the man tried to keep his children from him. He said he ran from police days later because he panicked due to his mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, but that he had now been prescribed medication for those conditions and could commit to changing his life.

“The only time I have been on my meds is when I was incarcerated,” Foster said.

Foster added that he had met one of his daughters only days before the incident because he was incarcerated when she was born. He said he had already missed so much of his children’s lives and had spent 14 years of his life incarcerated.

McCabria asked Clary to provide case law that said the possibility of treatment was a substantial or compelling reason he should depart from the state sentencing guidelines.

“I have an individual here (Foster) who is 33 years old and recognizes the importance of being a father,” McCabria said.

He said that when looking at Foster’s criminal history, dating back to 2006, he saw 20 convictions, including battery on a law enforcement officer and an additional flee-and-elude charge.

“What do I distinguish this case on? Flee and eluding is a very serious charge in this court. Aggravated endangerment of a child and criminal threat speak to a person who is a real risk,” McCabria said.

Clary said she wasn’t prepared to present case law but that the judge had the discretion to look beyond the traditional reasons to depart from mandatory sentences.

McCabria said that he believed Foster was remorseful and wanted to change his life but, despite that, he could not justify any reason to depart from sentencing Foster to prison. McCabria then gave Foster 29 months for eluding an officer and six months each for aggravated endangerment of a child and felony criminal threat.

McCabria ordered the six-month sentences to run concurrently with each other and consecutively to the eluding charge. Foster’s sentence in Douglas County is to run consecutively with any additional sentences he has in other counties. Foster was awarded 237 days of jail credit that he earned while in custody since the time of his arrest and was then returned to the Douglas County Jail.

Foster has previous convictions for theft, battery and fleeing from law enforcement, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.