Intruder with hedge clippers snapped the blades at victims, Georgia cops say

A home invasion case that involved manual hedge clippers being used as a weapon concluded with the suspect pleading guilty, according to prosecutors in North Georgia.

Samantha Hyatte, 37, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after conceding to a series of charges that included home invasion and aggravated assault, the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office said in an April 7 news release.

The charges stem from a February 2024 incident in which Hyatte was accused of breaking into the Catoosa County home of two women in their 60s, officials said. The victims were making lunch at the time, officials said.

“Hyatte opened the front door of the residence brandishing a large pair of (manual) hedge clippers while screaming and verbally threatening the two women,” officials said in the release.

“While inside the residence, Hyatte approached the women while opening and closing the hedge clippers in a threatening manner and demanded they give Hyatte their car keys.”

One of the women threw her keys past Hyatte, causing them to land on the home’s front porch, officials said.

“When Hyatte turned to pick up the keys, the woman shoved Hyatte out the front door and quickly locked it behind her, while the second woman immediately called law enforcement,” officials said.

Hyatte, who lived in Tennessee at the time, was found “wandering” the neighborhood, and she had replaced the hedge clippers with a claw hammer, officials said.

Investigators determined she did not know the two women she threatened and had never been in their home, officials said.

Hyatte plead guilty to two counts of first-degree home Invasion, two counts of aggravated assault and attempted armed robbery, officials said.

Catoosa County is just south of the Tennessee state line.