A Butler woman is accused of hampering city police in the arrest of her son, who was wanted on a warrant.
Police on Saturday charged Barbara A. Foster, 63, with hindering apprehension or prosecution, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Foster was charged a day after officers arrested her son, 33-year-old William E. Shaner, at the home they share on East Christie Street. Police said they had to use stun guns to arrest him.
Officers went to the house around 4:30 p.m. Friday with an arrest warrant for Shaner. The warrant, according to court documents, was issued after he was charged with assaulting his mother Oct. 19 at the home.
The alleged assault left Foster with bruises on her arms and right leg. Police did not immediately find Shaner, and they later got a warrant to arrest him on a charge of misdemeanor assault.
That same day and on Oct. 20 and 26, police informed Foster of the warrant for her son.
“She was also advised that the charges would not be dropped due to it being simple assault domestic violence,” documents said. Officers urged her to have Shaner turn himself in.
When police arrived at the home Friday looking for her son, Foster denied he was there, police said. But that's where officers say they found him a short time later.
Police said they forced open the front door after he refused to come out. He allegedly ignored repeated orders to give himself up, and two officers deployed their Tasers, documents said, before he was arrested.
He was subsequently arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest in Friday's incident, and for the assault stemming from the warrant. He remains in the Butler County Prison on $75,000 bond.
Foster is being charged by summons, and a preliminary hearing was not immediately scheduled. Online court records did not indicate if she has an attorney.
