Sex offender charged in Colville assault

A 42-year-old convicted sex offender is back behind bars after allegedly attacking a woman outside a Colville coffee stand Monday.

Jason R. Foster was booked into Stevens County Jail earlier this week after the alleged attack, which took place around 6 a.m. at a drive-thru stand near downtown Colville.

A female employee told police that Foster had parked near the front of the stand before the business opened, and when she went to enter the business he pulled out a box-cutting knife and began dragging her to the trunk of his car. The woman fought back, eventually wresting the knife from Foster, who told her he was joking, according to court records. He sped off, and the woman called police.

Coffee stand employees said Foster was a regular, and police identified him quickly after the alleged attack. Colville police contacted Foster’s sister and father, who said they’d received phone calls from him describing the coffee stand encounter but casting the employee as the aggressor, according to court records. Relatives sent him $150 by wire after he told them his car broke down in Spokane, according to police reports.

Foster was arrested when Whitman County deputies encountered him with his car disabled in a ditch in Whitman County, said Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Rasmussen. He faces potential charges of first-degree attempted kidnapping and second-degree assault, both counts with potential sentencing enhancements because Foster was armed with a deadly weapon during the alleged attack.

“I’m pleased with excellent police work for the Colville Police Department, and also the assistance of the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office,” Rasmussen said.

Foster’s bail was set at $200,000 in Stevens County Superior Court on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to a first-degree rape charge in Pierce County in 2001, according to court records. He is a registered Level 3 sex offender, a category given to offenders with the highest likelihood of recidivism.