‘I’ll Sue!’: Georgia Man Makes Good on His Warning After Bodycam Video Blows a Stunning Hole in Cops’ Claims
A Georgia man who was indicted and faced up to five years in prison for allegedly threatening to “shoot” police officers on his property is now suing four of the officers for malicious prosecution, arguing police body camera video proves they always knew he actually said he would “sue” them.
On May 12, 2025, two Douglasville Police Department officers showed up at Daniel Waltson’s home after he and his wife got into a verbal argument. Police were called because Waltson’s wife said she saw his gun in the kitchen, Atlanta News First reported.
Officers Treshaun Hill and Kiara Brooks first talked to Waltson’s wife, Gennifer Torres, outside of their neighbor’s home, then approached Waltson’s house, according to the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 3 in the State Court of Douglas County and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
‘I’ll SUE Your Department’
Police body camera video shows that Hill stood on the porch and knocked on the front door.
Waltson, 30, responded by asking through the closed door, “Do you have a warrant?” to which Hill responded, “No, I just want to talk to you.”
After some back and forth between the two, Waltson continued to decline to talk to the officer, then said, “You have no warrant, get away from my house. Get away from my house or I’ll sue your department.”
“You’ll do what?” Hill asked to which Officer Brooks can be heard replying, “Sue our department, I believe he said.”
“We can back off,” Hill said, and then he and Brooks walked back to speak with Torres, who was later arrested for disorderly conduct.
The Arrest For Alleged Threats
The next day, Waltson and Torres were at home with their two children and were surprised to find a half dozen officers with guns drawn surrounding their home, along with a K-9 and his handler ready to pounce.
“I was holding my son and my wife told me not to move,” Waltson told ANF. “She said, ‘You have a laser pointer on your chest.’”
Officers then moved in and arrested Waltson, who did not resist, for making terroristic threats against police, with an arrest warrant signed by a county judge in hand. The warrant, written by Officer Hunter Shane Wiggins and based on a sworn affidavit by Hill, said Waltson had “threatened to shoot the police for being on his property without a warrant.”
Waltson is seen on one body cam video telling an officer as he is put into a patrol car, “It’s OK, I can prove I didn’t do it.”
He was then taken to the Douglas County Jail, where he spent three days before being released on a $5,000 cash bond. He was fired from his job as a result of the arrest and detention, the lawsuit says.
Indicted — Until Police Video Surfaces
Based on police statements and testimony by Officer Dimitrios Stephens about his alleged threat, Waltson was indicted in August 2025 by a Douglas County grand jury for one count of terroristic threats, a felony with a maximum sentence of five years in Georgia.
On Sept. 10, 2025, Waltson filed motions to quash and dismiss the indictment, arguing that the officers had perjured themselves and bungled the indictment, which said he had threatened to shoot an officer named Anthony Fabish on May 13, 2025 — the day after his actual front porch encounter with Douglasville police, when he was in jail — and an encounter that did not involve Fabish, whom Waltson says he had never seen or met.
Shortly afterwards, Waltson obtained police body cam video of the May 12 incident that definitively captures what he actually said to police. He provided the video to Atlanta News First, whose reporter reviewed the footage and then sent it to the Douglas County District Attorney, inquiring if they had seen it before filing charges against Waltson.
A week later, On Oct. 2, 2025, Assistant District Attorney Ra M. Williams dismissed the charge against Walston, writing that “upon further review of the officer’s body-worn camera footage, the state determined that the defendant did not threaten to “shoot the department” as initially believed. Instead, the defendant stated that he would “sue the department.”
Lawsuit Claims Police ‘Collusion’ On Fabricated Story
Vindicated, but still suffering repercussions of his journey in the criminal justice system, Walston alleges in his lawsuit that Officers Hill, Brooks, Wiggins and Stephens knowingly made false statements “maliciously and without probable cause,” leading to an unjustified criminal prosecution that caused him significant harm, including unlawful deprivation of his liberty; wrongful incarceration; physical, psychological and emotional distress; financial losses including loss of income, damage to his reputation; and legal expenditures.
The officers’ “collusion” to “instigate Mr. Waltson’s arrest on felony charges” relying on a “fabrication of facts” that were included in the arrest warrant affidavit and grand jury testimony also constituted negligent performance of ministerial duty as sworn police officers, the complaint says.
Their “intentional, reckless, extreme and outrageous” conduct directed at Waltson by falsely alleging that he threatened to shoot officers has caused him to suffer emotional pain and suffering, necessitating psychiatric care. Waltson was diagnosed with “adjustment order with anxiety condition” due to problems related to his legal circumstances, the lawsuit alleges.
Walston seeks a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages, and an award for his legal costs.
His attorney Robert Kenner told ANF that the district attorney’s office did not apologize to Walston after dismissing the charges against him. He said he didn’t know if anyone in the DA’s office had reviewed the police video before filing the charges.
Neither Douglas County nor its District Attorney’s Office (which are not named in the lawsuit) nor the four police officers who are named defendants have responded to reporters’ requests for comment about the allegations in the lawsuit.
The defendants have 30 days to file a response to the lawsuit in court after being served with the complaint.