Case of police chase that went to the jail now headed to grand jury

Following a preliminary hearing Monday morning, a Whitley County Grand Jury will now hear evidence against a Knoxville man, who was allegedly driving a stolen car with marijuana and fake money inside, when he led police on a high-speed chase from Tennessee into Kentucky on I-75 last Wednesday morning before taking an ill-fated turn and running out of road at the Whitley County Detention Center.

Scotty Inman is charged with speeding, fleeing police, DUI, and numerous other charges stemming from July 22 police pursuit involving a stolen car that ended at the Whitley County Detention Center.

The man then jumped out of his vehicle and tried to flee on foot before tripping over a curb and being apprehended by three officers. Drug involvement is suspected, according to his arrest citations.

Later, deputy jailers found marijuana and methamphetamine hidden inside the vagina of the vehicle’s passenger, according to her arrest citation.

At the close of Monday’s hearing, Whitley District Judge Fred White ruled that there was probable cause to forward the case onto the grand jury for consideration.

He left the driver’s $25,000 cash bond in the felony case in place, and set a $5,000 bond in the man’s traffic case, according to the Whitley Circuit Court Clerk’s Office.

The incident happened about 2:30 a.m. on July 22 when Whitley County E-911 received a call that the Tennessee Highway Patrol was in pursuit of a stolen car heading north on I-75 towards Kentucky at 120 mph, according to an arrest citation.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Donnie Jones soon observed the beige 2000 Toyota Corolla and attempted to stop it as it entered Kentucky. Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Estep joined the pursuit at the 6 mile marker.

Williamsburg Police K-9 Officer Elijah Hunter successfully deployed spike strips at Exit 11 where the fleeing car exited the interstate damaging the tires of the stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s department release noted. Whitley County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jonas Saunders also joined the pursuit.

After exiting the interstate and running over spike strips, the car turned right and then left going through a red light. The car continued using both lanes and made a left onto Main Street, Jones wrote on one of the six arrest citation pages.

The car then continued heading towards Ky. 92W when it lost a tire next to Brashear’s Grocery. The car then drove through the Ky. 92W intersection and went up the hill towards the Whitley County Detention Center, according to a citation.

“The car stayed on the left side of the building heading towards the Sally Port. When the operator of the vehicle realized he had no more roadway, he stopped and exited the vehicle on foot,” Jones wrote.

The man then ran around the building and started to run over the hill when he stumbled over a curb and fell. At that point, Jones jumped on the suspect and needed the help of two Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies to get the suspect under control, a citation stated.

The suspect was then taken into the detention center.

At that point, a Williamsburg Police Department K-9 officer and his police dog arrived and did a search around the outside of the vehicle when the dog alerted to the possible presence of drugs inside the vehicle, a citation stated.

Police located a woman, Amanda Hatfield, 29, of Clinton, Tennessee, in the passenger’s side of the vehicle and also detained her.

After searching the vehicle, fake money and marijuana was located inside the car.

The driver of the car, Scotty R. Inman, 33, was taken to Baptist Health Corbin to have his blood drawn for a toxicology test, and to be assessed for minor cuts.

“Mr. Inman stated while he was driving down the roadway, his girlfriend was shooting meth into his veins,” Jones wrote.

Afterwards Inman was lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.

Jones charged Inman with speeding 26 mph over limit, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence, five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, receiving stolen property under $10,000, two counts of first-degree fleeing or evading police (motor vehicle and on foot), 10 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, first-degree criminal mischief, resisting arrest and nine other traffic-related offenses.

A female deputy jailer found “ice,” which is a very potent form of crystal methamphetamine, and marijuana inside Hatfield’s vagina, according to her arrest citation.

Hatfield was charged with public intoxication controlled substance excludes alcohol, first-degree promoting contraband, first-degree possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), and possession of marijuana, according to her arrest citation and detention center records, and was released from jail a few hours after her arrest.

“Once again, multiple agencies worked in collaboration to apprehend a violent offender who showed no regard for the lives of other motorist on Kentucky roadways,” the sheriff’s department noted in the release. “Trooper Jones did an outstanding job communicating with outside agencies to allow collaboration that led to a peaceful arrest. Williamsburg Police Officers Elijah Hunter and Jason Williams were instrumental in disabling the vehicle to keep pursuit speeds as low as possible.”