City, county cops cooperate to seize 7-1/2 ounces crack, coke

Aug. 9– Savannah police, along with a Hardin County deputy sheriff, cooperated Friday in a drug bust which seized crack and coke with a reported street value of $21,000.

Twenty-eight-year-old Katy Hays of Savannah is facing numerous charges in connection with her arrest, which culminated in a foot chase after crashing her mother’s black Chevy pickup truck into city canine officer Scotty Love’s patrol car at Hardin County Middle School, according to police Investigator Tim Kelley.

Kelley said Deputy Sheriff Matt Terry stopped Hays on Pickwick Road near the former hunting and fishing store for a broken tail light and he went to assist. As he approached to speak to a man he recognized in the pickup with Hays, she "dropped the vehicle in gear and stomped on it."

The pickup’s rear end swung out and came within a foot of hitting him, Kelley said, and officers gave chase, following Hays to the middle school as items were seen being thrown out a window.

At the school, as Hays exited the pickup, she "intentionally put it in reverse and ran over the canine officer, Scotty Love’s, vehicle," he said.

Hays fled on foot and climbed a fence but was caught after a chase of about 50 yards, he said.

The suspect is charged with three counts of possession of Schedule III narcotics with intent (a total of 7-1/2 ounces of crack and cocaine, and five Saboxin pills), simple possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia (scales, beakers, hypodermic needles, two counts each of reckless endangerment and fleeing to avoid arrest. The pickup was also seized.

Kelley said Hays’ bond is set at $150,000, and the man who was with her has not been charged in the incident.