Woman who lied about cop convicted of filing false statement

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - It was a FOX 5 I-Team story that touched a nerve with police officers across the country.

A woman falsely accused a Stone Mountain police officer of cussing her out during a routine traffic stop.

Now, she has pleaded guilty to the felony charge of filing a false complaint.

This is how it unfolded. In 2015, Stone Mountain Police Sergeant Steven Floyd pulls over DeKalb Fire Captain Terrell Davis at a local school for an expired tag. Davis called his co-worker Krystal Cathcart to the scene. Sgt. Floyd issued the ticket but has to ask Krystal Cathcart to step away from the scene, since she wasn't involved.

Floyd tells her she needs to move, and when she asks why, he responds: “You cannot stand right there, and it's the last time I'm going to ask you or I'm going to put you in the back of my car.”

Krystal Cathcart filed a written complaint with his department. She claimed Sgt. Floyd created "a sense of fear" at the scene, cussed her out twice, telling her to "back the f*** up" or he will throw her in the "back of my squad car."

But, she apparently didn’t know Sgt. Floyd was wearing a body camera. During an internal investigation, after Stone Mountain Police played Sgt. Floyd's body camera video showing no cussing, Ms. Cathcart changed her story, writing "I recant the error of Sgt. Floyd using profanity." 

Following our I-Team investigation of the incident, Krystal Cathcart resigned. 

But, it didn’t' end with her resignation.  Sgt. Steven Floyd hired an attorney and took his case to the DeKalb District Attorney's office.

In court, DeKalb prosecutor Chris Timmons, told a judge his investigation lead to the felony charge of filing a false statement.

“Essentially what Ms. Cathcart did, was in an effort to get Sgt. Floyd fired, she claimed he used profanity during the traffic stop which is a false statement,” Timmons told the court.

Cathcart pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false statement. She received a two year probated sentence. She also had to do 40 hours of community service, write two letters of written apology, pay a fine of 500 dollars and not work in public employment during her probation.

Ms. Cathcart had no comment. Neither did Sgt. Floyd. But, her punishment brought closure for one unfairly targeted police officer, protected by his sense of right and wrong, and a body camera.