San Diego police Officer
Christopher Hays was arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion of false
imprisonment and misdemeanor sexual battery with four women, police
officials said.
The District Attorney’s Office is also investigating claims by two more women.
Most
of the cases involve claims that Hays inappropriately touched women —
all in their 20s or 30s — during pat-down searches of their bodies.
However, at a news conference Sunday afternoon, San Diego Police Chief
Bill Lansdowne said that at least one of the two new cases involves more
serious claims involving sexual contact that could involve felony
charges.
Hays, 30, surrendered at 1
p.m. Sunday at the sheriff’s substation in Rancho Bernardo and was
booked into the downtown jail at 1:30 p.m. He was booked on two counts
of false imprisonment and three counts of misdemeanor sexual battery. He
was later released on $130,000 bond.
“This officer, if the allegations prove to be true, will go to prison,” Lansdowne said.
If
the district attorney charges Hays with the counts that he was arrested
on, police said he could face up to 7½ years in prison.
Lansdowne
said that four cases were uncovered through an internal investigation
after a woman came forward in December to report that she had been
inappropriately frisked by an officer. Police detectives checked every
case Hays had been involved in since he was hired four years ago, and
three more women were found with similar claims involving incidents with
Hays that occurred between Nov. 12, 2012, and Dec. 23, 2013. After
those four cases were turned over to the District Attorney’s Office, a
fifth woman was found through the police investigation.
Following
publicity about the Hays investigation, a sixth woman came forward
through her attorney on Friday, saying she was contacted by Hays in
October 2012 for an unspecified reason and pressured to perform a sex
act with him.
Hays has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. No arraignment date has been announced.
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