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Armed Violence charges filed against Galesburg man

Bond was set at $250,000 over the weekend for a Galesburg man facing a slew of felony charges following his arrest at the end of last week.

56-year-old Ronald E. Foster had his bond set at $250,000 by Judge Scott Shiplett. Foster faces three counts of Armed Violence, a Class X Felony. If convicted, he could be sentenced to between 15 and 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corre0ctions. Additional charges include Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Foster made a video appearance Monday afternoon with Judge Patricia A. Walton. The public defender’s office was appointed to represent Foster in his case.

According to a Galesburg Police report, officers were dispatched to the 1400-block of Jefferson Street for a call of a subject with a gun. The caller advised that a male subject had a rifle, and had fired two rounds from a handgun.

Officers arrived and approached the area on foot, when they were approached by a 54-year-old woman, later identified as Donna J. Johnson, and Foster, who was armed with appeared to be either a shotgun or rifle and wearing a helmet with a light affixed to it.

Officers trained their weapons and ordered Foster to stand down, but he allegedly turned and ran back to a residence on Jefferson. Officers secured the perimeter of the home until Foster gave himself up. While searching him, officers found an old prescription bottle for Hydrocodone that had been prescribed to him. Foster told police that what was inside was Xanex.

Foster told officers that the had seen six people on his security cameras and took out a pellet gun to investigate. He also told officers that he had put on a bulletproof vest and a helmet in case the subjects had weapons of their own.

Police reports indicate that Johnson told police that she owned the firearms and would not give permission to take them. Officers would, however, conduct a safety search of the property for additional subjects. Reports indicate that officers observed several firearms, crossbows, drugs, and drug paraphernalia inside the residence.

Officers would obtain and execute a search warrant signed off by Assistant State’s Attorney Andrew Stuckart and Judge Shiplett.

That search yielded seven guns:

  • two 12-gauge shotguns
  • A Stevens .22
  • a Springfield .22
  • an Anderson Manufacturing AR-15 style rifle
  • a 9mm Kohr CM9 pistol
  • a Ruger .44 magnum revolver

Additionally, officers found two small plastic baggies containing a white powder substance and two “crack pipes.”

The indication from the police report was that GPD was requesting the Illinois State Police revoke the FOID card status of Johnson, due to Foster gaining access to the guns and arming himself with a ballistic vest and helmet prior to interacting with police. The report indicates that Foster has a history of arming himself unlawfully and claiming to see 4-6 individuals outside of his home trying to break in, do damage, or steal.

Judge Walton scheduled a preliminary hearing for Foster for January 28th at 2:00 p.m.

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