FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. — Brittany Patterson, the mother of a boy who was arrested in 2024 when he was seen walking to a nearby store alone, is now suing the deputies who arrested her and the Fannin County Sheriff.
Channel 2 Action News reported when Patterson was arrested in October two years ago. She faced a reckless conduct charge.
In February 2025, Patterson’s charges were dismissed.
On Oct. 29, 2026, just a day less than the two-year anniversary of Patterson’s arrest, she and her husband filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, alleging they had violated her civil rights.
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment and is waiting for a response.
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The lawsuit’s allegations
The lawsuit filed last Thursday alleges that Sheriff Dane Kirby and deputies Weston Henry and Kaylee Robertson violated Patterson’s rights through her arrest.
In the legal filing, Patterson’s legal counsel alleges the actions of sheriff’s office staff taken on Oct. 30, 2024 were unconstitutional and caused by a failure to properly train and supervise Fannin County deputies.
The lawsuit accuses the sheriff’s office of making a false arrest citing lack of probable cause, unreasonable seizure of Patterson’s then-10-year-old son, Monell Liability for failure to train staff on proper policies, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium.
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Patterson is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, punitive damages against Sheriff Kirby and both deputies Henry and Robertson, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs and pre- and post-judgment interest as allowed by law.
In ante litem notices sent to the sheriff’s office, Patterson’s counsel said it is seeking compensation for physical restrain, emotional distress, reputational injury and related damages.
The backstory
The incident on Oct. 30, 2024 had deputies responding to a section of Georgia 60 at Mineral Bluff Highway.
Patterson’s son was walking on his own to a nearby Dollar General store.
Witnesses told deputies investigating the situation that they’d asked if he was OK and he told them he was. When asked by witnesses if he needed help, the boy said no.
The boy told the witness who asked him about his parents that his mother worked at the post office. Eventually, he ran off and hid behind a fire station, and deputies began to search for him.
The boy was found a little more than a mile away from his home. Deputies called Patterson about her son being found on Railroad Avenue and said she “seemed very unsurprised or concerned” about it.
Body camera footage recorded by deputies show when they got to Patterson’s home. She told deputies she’d taken another of her children to a doctor’s appointment and that her son was supposed to be there with her, but he never got to the car, so she left when she couldn’t find him so she would not be late for the appointment.
According to the report by deputies, her son did not often listen to her. After speaking with Patterson, deputies arrested her and the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services was called in.
Patterson refused to sign a parenting plan with DFCS in exchange for having charges dropped.
Exhibits from the lawsuit
Copies of the arrest warrant and arrest affidavit for Patterson as well as warrant dismissal from the district attorney’s office were included in the court filings by Patterson’s counsel.
Ante Litem Notices sent to Sheriff Dane Kirby and the Fannin County Board of Commissioners within 12 months of the incident and certified mail return receipts for them were also included.
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