Ohio woman wrongly jailed, separated from children over mistaken identity

An Ohio woman has lost her job and was temporarily separated from her children after she was jailed for a week because she had the same name as a drug trafficking suspect, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ashley Foster of Hamilton County was arrested April 11 by county deputies. They said her name matched that of a heroin trafficking suspect. Child protective services took custody of her two young children, who were present at her arrest.

{mosads}”I told him my name was Ashley, he asked me to step out of the car. They said, ‘Do you know you have a warrant out for your arrest?’ And I said, ‘No! What did I do?’ He said it was for trafficking heroin and I broke down in the parking lot – on the ground crying,” Foster said, according to the newspaper.

Foster was held in county custody for five days before she was transferred to Brown County, where the charges were issued. There, an officer interviewed her and realized she was not the suspect, according to the Enquirer.

“This should have been a Clermont County case … but we responded as police asked,” Brian Gregg of Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services told the Enquirer. “From our assessment, there are no concerns and we are closing the case. She will pick up her children [from their fathers] at her convenience, if she hasn’t already.”

Foster said she also lost her job while in custody, but Fox 19 confirmed she had been reunited with her children on Friday. 

BREAKING NOW & ONLY ON @FOX19 Clermont mom gets custody of her two sons back after being mistakenly jailed 7 days “I got custody back!!! Everything went so smoothly! Were doing family easter tomorrow with both boys!!” – Ashley Foster #PrayersAnswered on this #GoodFriday pic.twitter.com/zOuOassbRX

— Stef DiPietrantonio (@StefDFOX19Now) April 19, 2019