Former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Undercover Officer Believed to Be Protestor

Randy Hays, 32, a former police officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri to one count of using unreasonable and excessive force against a fellow SLMPD police officer, who was believed to be a protestor while the officer was working undercover in downtown St. Louis during protests following the 2017 acquittal of a former SLMPD officer on a state murder charge. Hays’ co-defendant Bailey Colletta pled guilty to committing perjury related to this assault on Sept. 6, 2019.  Co-defendants and former SLMPD officers Dustin Boone and Christopher Myers remain under indictment on federal charges related to the assault and subsequent cover-up. They have pleaded not guilty.

According to the plea agreement, in addition to facing a maximum of 10 years in prison, Hays must forfeit his law enforcement certification. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

The trial of Boone and Myers is set for Dec. 2, 2019.

This case is being investigated by the St. Louis Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by First Assistant United States Attorney Carrie Costantin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Special Litigation Counsel Fara Gold and Trial Attorney Janea Lamar of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Criminal Section.