Charges dropped against teen identified by mom in St. Paul purse snatching

The charges filed against an 18-year-old accused of stealing a purse from an 81-year-old in St. Paul have been dropped, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office announced Monday. 

Prosecutors say the 18-year-old, Isaiah Foster, whose mom originally identified him to police, could not have committed the crime in question as cell phone location records and security camera footage shows him in Bloomington around the time of the assault.

Security footage shows Foster entering a Walmart in Bloomington on the same day of the crime about 20 minutes before the 81-year-old is robbed in St. Paul. The suspect in the St. Paul robbery is wearing the same coat that Foster was wearing in footage of him walking into the Walmart. 

Authorities say the drive from Bloomington to St. Paul would have taken too long to commit the robbery. Upon further review, the suspect in the St. Paul incident was also wearing different jeans from Foster. 

His mother told police at the time she believed her son was involved in the assault and robbery in St. Paul because she recognized the coat the suspect was wearing at the time. However, days later, she recanted the identification.