Sacramento Deputy Placed On Leave For Allegedly Running Over Teen

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A Sacramento County sheriff's deputy is on the other side of the law, accused of trying to use his patrol car as a weapon.

Det. John Foster is behind bars, suspected of trying to run down a teen; and his wife is defending his actions.

People who walked out of Foster's home Sunday refused to talk to CBS13 about what happened Friday evening.

"He was saying he was a police officer and I really just didn't believe him," said Leticia Day.

Police say the Sacramento County detective ran down a teenager in his sheriff's department issued van on Shanghai Bend Road.

"I ran. I was in shock myself. I was shaking," said Nikki Sumait.

Sumait was standing with the teen when she says Foster and his wife came barreling onto the grass where they were talking.

She says skid marks show the path the van took.

"That's no accident when you drive up on somebody's yard," Sumait said.

Her mother, Day, says she watched the whole thing from her window. She says the teen was hit in the ankles and is now walking around on crutches.

"You could have parked around the block, called the police, had the police walk over and tell them 'hey, this kid broke my window.' That's what you should have done," Day said.

Foster's wife told CBS13 over the phone that the teen's story is "made up" and they never hit him with their car. She says the teen recently broke a window out of her husband's undercover van and that he has been harassing her son.

"Well their son is always harassing all these little kids around here. My youngest, he punched in the ear and my son's scared of him," she said.

Foster has been placed on administrative leave from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and expected to be in court on Tuesday.