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The man accused of killing Philadelphia Police Sgt. Timothy Simpson in a Nov. 17 auto collision was sentenced to at least five years in state prison this morning by a Bucks County judge for violating his probation on a series of theft and drug cases.
William Allan Foster, 41, of Levittown, had been wanted on probation violations in Bucks and on parole violations in New Jersey when his speeding car collided with Simpson's police cruiser in the city's Juniata Park section.
In August 2007, the drug addict and career thief had been placed on 15 years' probation by Bucks County Judge David W. Heckler after pleading guilty to three tool theft cases and a heroin possession charge. At the time, Foster begged Heckler for a chance to continue his drug treatment program, saying it was the first time his addiction had been dealt with effectively.
Heckler agreed, but warned Foster that he would be sent to state prison if he got into trouble again.
"You went out and committed the same despicable behavior you had on the other cases," Heckler told Foster in court this morning. "I'm going to keep my word."
Heckler ordered Foster to serve five to 10 years in state prison.
After the hearing, Foster declined comment on the sentence as sheriff's deputies led him away. Asked whether he had anything to say to Simpson's survivors, he said, "I wish I could trade my life for his. Even so, it was an accident."
Foster is charged in Philadelphia with third-degree murder, vehicular homicide and other crimes in the death of Simpson, 46, a 20-year veteran. Foster allegedly was fleeing police after a drug buy when his car struck Simpson's vehicle.
Until then, Foster had been little more than a junkie and a serial thief, with more than a 20-year history of relatively petty crimes. He had been serving state time in New Jersey when sentenced to probation by Heckler in 2007.
His violation of that probation had nothing to do with the pending charges in Philadelphia, Heckler said. Rather, it stemmed from Foster's guilty pleas last month to yet another tool theft in August and a shoplifting charge in November.
At the time of those crimes, Foster had been wanted in New Jersey as a fugitive, having absconded from supervision after being paroled there last spring.
Bucks officials had Foster in the county prison as recently as August, but a district judge mistakenly set bail on the parole violation charge, enabling Foster to remain free until the fatal accident.
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