Lawsuits continue to stack up against Leesburg Police Department

Two multi-million lawsuits have been filed against the Leesburg Police Department in the last four months. Since 2020, there have been five highly publicized suits contending excessive force, unlawful arrest or gross negligence.

Several have stemmed from routine traffic stops that quickly escalated into verbal and then physical altercations. Though de-escalation techniques are standard training for police departments, traffic stops remain one of the most common interactions with the public that quickly escalate.

Taxpayers pay for all expenses related to defending the police department and its officers, including settlements. Yet, the practice in settlement agreements is to force plaintiffs to sign non-disclosure agreements which prevents the settlement amount from being disclosed to the public, and plaintiffs from talking about it.

This practice wholly bypasses transparency and public trust, and precludes the public from ever knowing how much they have paid for police misconduct.

Heather Bardot of of McGavin, Boyce, Bardot, Thorsen & Katz, P.C. law firm in Fairfax has represented the Leesburg Police Department on a number of misconduct cases.

The Thurgood Marshall Institute has a website that publicizes settlement amounts nationwide resulting from officer misconduct and negligence as information becomes known:

policefundingdatabase.org/explore-the-database/settlements/

In September 2023, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA-08) introduced the Cost of Police Misconduct Act which would require federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to report judgments and settlements related to police misconduct, including court fees and insurance payments, to the Department of Justice.

That bill failed, but Kaine recently re-introduced it again on Jan. 30 2026:

kaine.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/cost_of_police_misconduct_act_release.pdf

Austin Kallmayer

In December 2025, Waterford resident Brian Gallagher filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against the Leesburg Police Department, Chief of Police Thea Pirnat, and former officer Austin Kallmayer, who was decertified by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services in March 2025 for conduct it states “compromised credibility, integrity [and] honesty."

Decertification means an officer has been stripped of all police powers and can no longer serve in any law enforcement capacity in Virginia.

Gallagher says he was pulled over on Market Street on Aug. 5, 2023 by Kallmayer and arrested for driving under the influence. He alleges that Kallmayer placed handcuffs on him too tightly, which resulted in numbness and loss of feeling in his right hand. Despite Gallagher's pleas to release the pressure from the handcuffs on his hands, he states Kallmayer refused to do so within a timely manner, resulting in lasting damage to his right hand.

It was not until other law enforcement officers arrived on the scene and instructed Kallmayer that the cuffs were too tight that the cuffs were eventually loosened, the suit states.

Gallagher also alleges that Kallmayer destroyed crucial evidence when he threw away the key to the handcuffs used in the arrest.

Proper handcuffing technique is taught during cadet training in police academies.

More information on the lawsuit can be found in this Loudoun Now article:

loudounnow.com/news/man-sues-former-leesburg-police-officer-over-injuries-sustained-in-custody/article_5872b566-932e-4479-ab5c-7bd54852d18a.html

Kallmayer is married to current Leesburg Police officer Abigail Wright Kallmayer who has been employed with the department since January 2022. The couple married in December 2024.

According to his LinkedIn page, before working for the Leesburg Police Department Austin Kallmayer had worked for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in the Adult Detention facility for just over a year. Prior to that he was employed for 8 months with the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office in Texas.

After separating from the Leesburg Police Department, Kallmayer became an outside sales rep for JES Foundation Repair in Manassas for just over a year, and now his LinkedIn page says he is a "self employed private contractor" since February 2026.

Josiah Donohue

A $10 million lawsuit was filed in February 2026 against the Town of Leesburg, Chief Pirnat, and former LPD officer Josiah Donohue by Leesburg resident Chinua Payton after being tased, resulting in severe injuries.

The incident began when Payton says his car broke down at the intersection of Potomac Station Road and Battlefield Parkway in June 2024. Donohue saw the car in the intersection and stopped to investigate.

Caution- a graphic video of the incident can be seen here posted on YouTube by the Marquis Law Group which is representing Payton. Serious injuries to Payton's forehead, eye, lip, arm and hand are shown in the video at the 7:45 minute mark :

More details can be seen in this Loudoun Now article:

loudounnow.com/news/man-files-10m-lawsuit-against-leesburg-police-after-being-tased-injured/article_51fa31be-7f4e-4506-9908-2f085c76a08e.html

Josiah Donohue was with the Leesburg Police Department from February 2022 to January 2025 before being separated from the department and decertified in March 2025, for "engaging in serious misconduct," according to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.

The lawsuit states that Donohue had previously had excessive force complaints against him before his interaction with Payton and alleges that Chief Pirnat knew of this but failed to take action to prevent future excessive force abuses against the public by Donohue.

Before joining the police department, Donohue was a piano teacher.

Donohue's LinkedIn profile says he is a "firearms enthusiast." His profile shows no employment since separating from the police department.

Officer Greg Graves is the second officer in the video from the day Payton was tased. He can be heard explaining himself to supervising Lieutenant Robert Spano who arrived on the scene. Spano was promoted to captain in December 2025 by Chief Pirnat.

Jonathan Graham, Justin Wilt, Matthew Connell, Bradley Schultz

Former Manassas resident Michael Benet Wyche filed a suit in 2021 and later in October 2024 against Detective Jonathan Graham, Sgt. Bradley Schultz, Officer Justin Wilt and former Officer Matthew Connell.

Jacqueline Kramer, Wyche’s previous attorney, wrote in the suit that the incident occurred at the Sunoco station at East Market Street and Fort Evans Road SE in Leesburg around 11:25 p.m. on May 5, 2019, after Graham pulled Wyche over for allegedly speeding.

As with several other traffic stops, the interaction between the officers and the plaintiff quickly escalates into violence. See body camera video footage here:

When supervising Sergeant Schultz was called to the scene, Wyche alleges: “Schultz laughed when Graham and Connell indicated to Schultz that they had punched Wyche.”

Schultz was recently promoted to the rank of captain by Chief Pirnat.

This reporter previously wrote about this lawsuit here:

patch.com/virginia/leesburg/leesburg-police-department-sued-1-35-million-nodx

Wyche was offered a settlement by the Town of Leesburg. He refused the offer because he said it was too low. He has since moved out of the Northern Virginia area and has ceased his legal pursuit. He said he underwent mental health therapy and physical therapy as a result of his interaction with police.

Heather Maupin

Ashburn resident Brian Allman sued former Leesburg Police Sergeant Heather Maupin, individually, for a response to a minor traffic accident which turned into an arrest in Leesburg in May 2021.

In an interview with this reporter, Allman says he was rear ended by a commercial truck and pulled over and waited for police. Sgt. Heather Maupin, a 20 plus year veteran officer at that point, responded to the scene. The two started arguing whether the accident occurred within Town limits, and then subsequently about why Maupin instructed the parties involved to exchange insurance information and let the insurance companies resolve the issue.

In Virginia, damage in excess of $1,500 must be worked and investigated by a police officer to determine fault. Maupin did not want to do this, Allman said.

Even though Allman was the victim of the accident, and had been rear ended by the commercial truck behind him, Maupin arrested Allman and charged him with reckless driving which was later reduced to improper lane change.

Allman himself is a former Manassas Police officer and Fairfax police officer. When he submitted a FOIA request for the body camera footage of the incident, the response back was that Maupin's body camera was not charged at the time and did not capture any of the interaction with Allman.

Allman said he was offered a settlement by the Town, but had to sign a "do not disclose" agreement as part of the settlement.

Maupin was later decertified in August 2025 after resigning from the police department during an investigation into serious misconduct, according to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. There is no information on her employment since leaving the force.

Nazem Hachwi

Berryville resident Corey Scott Nacin filed a suit in February 2021 against the Leesburg Police Department and former Officer Nazem Hachwi for an incident that occurred in downtown Leesburg in 2019 when an altercation started over a female allegedly being inappropriately touched.

Several males got involved in an altercation and police were called. Hachwi arrested Nacin and charged him with drunk in public and simple assault. The assault charge was later dropped by the Commonwealth Attorney's Office.

Nacin sued for gross negligence, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and arrest, unlawful seizure and violation of rights. He was a federal air traffic controller at the time and because of the arrest, was placed on leave from his job resulting in a loss of $23,000 in pay, reputational harm and loss of professional clearances.

He was offered a settlement by the Town and was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, he said.

Hachwi separated from the Leesburg Police Department in August 2023 and is now working as an officer for the Blacksburg Police Department.

Typically, the Leesburg Police Department does not make public comment regarding litigation. Regardless, Public Information Officer Michele Bowman was given an opportunity to comment on this article, which will be updated if there is a response from the department.