Bexar County jail leadership was informed that an inmate had the use of his legs and was likely manipulating the system more than a year before he leapt from a wheelchair and escaped from the Bexar County Justice Center following a 2024 sentencing hearing, records recently obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Antoine Foster, 32, jumped out of the wheelchair on Oct. 31, 2024, struck a sheriff’s deputy and ran from the courthouse sallyport, leading to a multi-agency manhunt.
Foster was eventually recaptured along the San Antonio River.
‘It appears that Inmate Foster may be intentionally manipulating the system‘
Foster’s brief run to freedom occurred shortly after a jury sentenced him to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, in an attempted capital murder of a police officer case heard in Bexar County’s 186th Criminal District Court.
Foster used a handgun and a shotgun to fire more than 20 rounds at San Antonio police in July 2020, as officers responded to a North Side apartment complex for a domestic violence call.
Officers returned fire at Foster, who was struck multiple times and critically injured.
After a lengthy hospital stay, Foster was moved to a medical unit at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center, records show.
In September 2023, a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) classification lieutenant informed jail leadership that both controlled access unit officers and medical staff had witnessed Foster “moving about in his bed,” records show.
“It appears that Inmate (Antoine) Foster may be intentionally manipulating the system to prolong his stay,” the Sept. 27, 2023, email states.
Recipients of the email included the command staff of the Bexar County Adult Detention Center: Assistant Chief Deputy Joel Janssen, Deputy Chief Jennifer Shumake and then-Jail Administrator Jaime Rios.
Rios resigned two weeks after the email was sent, citing the need to care for an aging family member.
Though Foster’s escape is the subject of pending discipline cases, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar confirmed that none of those cases involve jail command staff.
“What’s at the crux of this disciplinary case… is that it doesn’t really matter what condition someone truly has,” Salazar said.
The sheriff pointed out that BCSO rules require deputies to shackle the legs of an inmate being taken from the jail to the courthouse for a proceeding, even if he or she is using a wheelchair.
This protocol was not utilized for Foster.
“If they say they need a wheelchair to move around, that still doesn’t absolve us of the necessity to handcuff somebody, shackle them and use all appropriate precautions on them,” Salazar said.
“My understanding is the nature of that email was not, ‘Hey, we’ve seen this guy walking around and running around, jogging around the block.’ It was that they were in the process of relocating inmates from the hospital area to the jail,” the sheriff continued. “And an email was sent regarding this particular inmate that, ‘Look, we can probably stand to move him to the jail’ because they had seen him doing some rehab-type exercises.”
UHS, BCSO decline to release footage of Foster in jail
Long before Foster’s escape, cameras in the jail infirmary recorded him using his legs, multiple sources familiar with BCSO’s internal investigation told KSAT.
After KSAT requested footage, BCSO officials responded that University Health System (UHS) is the custodian of records for the video.
UHS officials declined to release the footage, claiming that videos of patients are included in the definition of protected health information.
After KSAT informed BCSO the footage was part of at least one internal investigation, BCSO sent a letter asking the Texas Attorney General’s Office to allow the agency to withhold it, because it reveals information about the jail’s surveillance system.
The request is still pending a ruling from the AG’s office.
Dispatcher fired after escape; deputies face possible discipline
The internal investigation into Foster’s escape led to the March firing of a sheriff’s dispatcher, records show.
Veronica Ledesma was terminated after investigators determined she failed to properly communicate with deputies after Foster ran off.
Ledesma’s missteps included not gathering a description of Foster or the clothing he was wearing, failing to provide his direction of travel and failing to inform VIA that an escaped inmate may try to use the bus system, records show.
Other discipline cases related to the escape are pending, Salazar confirmed.
“I can’t say that these deputies will lose their job over this, but certainly, there is a certain level of accountability that has to be ensured,” Salazar said.
Foster has since been transferred to the McConnell Unit in Beeville to serve his life sentence, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) records show.
A TDCJ spokesperson declined to say which, if any, medical accommodations have been provided to Foster, stating inmate medical information is confidential.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
More related coverage of this story on KSAT:
- Bexar County deputy suspended, dispatcher fired after two 2024 inmate escapes
- Man convicted of attempted capital murder leaps out of wheelchair, leads deputies on foot chase, DA’s Office says
- Suspect found guilty of attempted capital murder apprehended after fleeing Bexar County Justice Center, BCSO says