Suspect climbed through Columbus Wendy's window to assault employee, police say
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A man accused of climbing through a fast food drive-through window and assaulting an employee in east Columbus has been arrested.
According to court documents, Columbus police responded to reports of an assault on May 30 at a Wendy’s on East Main Street in Eastmoor. Two employees told police that at 5:50 a.m., a man was banging on the drive-through window at the restaurant, holding up a cellphone with the store manager’s name on it, implying there was a phone call from him.
One employee opened the window, assuming the manager wanted to speak with him. The man asked for a woman, who was also working inside the Wendy’s, which was not yet open at that time. While one employee walked away to find the other employee, the man climbed through the drive-through window to look for the woman.
The man, later identified as 44-year-old William Foster, followed the woman to the manager’s office and allegedly struck her in the head several times before she fell to the ground. Foster reportedly took the woman’s cellphone and walked out of the office.
Police said after the woman got back up, she ran from the office and climbed outside through the drive-through window. She attempted to get into the driver’s side door of Foster’s vehicle. Foster followed the woman out of the drive-through window and shoved the woman away from the vehicle before leaving the scene.
A cell phone belonging to the victim was found inside the restaurant, police said, and the incident was captured on video surveillance.
The manager was interviewed and positively identified Foster from a photo array. The manager told police that Foster and the victim were living in his basement.
Foster, who admitted to police he assaulted the victim, was arrested Saturday and appeared before a judge in Franklin County Municipal Court on Monday. He was charged with aggravated robbery, issued a $750,000 bond, and is next scheduled to appear in court on June 25 for a preliminary hearing.