A Democratic congressional candidate convicted last week of drunken driving ranted during his arrest in 2017 about how much he hated his county.
In the recently released dash-cam footage from his arrest, Steven Lamar Foster, a 61-year-old politician hoping to unseat Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) in Dalton, Georgia, in November, repeatedly insulted the county he’s hoping to represent, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
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“Eleven years I served this county,” a clearly intoxicated Foster told police. “I hate this county. I prayed to God that he would curse it. And guess what? He did. Man, I saw it hit and cursed, and I saw people laid off right and left — white people. I hate this county.”
Foster, who was drinking at a nearby Applebee’s but had since left in his silver Mercedes with a woman in the passenger seat, also called the police officers who arrested him “Barneys” in the video first obtained by The Dalton Daily-Citizen News.
After taking numerous field sobriety tests, having blood drawn at a nearby hospital, and complying with a breathalyzer test, it was determined Foster’s blood-alcohol content was way over the state’s legal .08 limit, according to Newsweek.
The first-time Democratic candidate was jailed Monday after a jury convicted him of driving while under the influence — a misdemeanor offense until the fourth violation. Foster will likely be sentenced next week. He could face between 10 days and one year behind bars.
Foster, a former military man investigated by the U.S. Army over allegations he stole surplus military boots, told his arresting officers he’d been “in jail in six d*** countries and the state of Mississippi.”
He is also a former medical doctor whose license was revoked in October 2002, The Associated Press reported. The Composite State Board of Medical Examiners determined Foster, who described himself as a “physician entrepreneur,” was “unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients due to a psychiatric disorder.”
Dan Lovingwood, the chair of the Democratic 14th congressional district, said Foster is unlikely to step down as his party’s nominee. Lovingwood went on to admit the former doctor “would not have taken this to trial if he had thought he would be found guilty.”
“I have no comment to make other than that,” Lovingwood added. “He’s still in the race. He seems more determined than ever to continue.”