Lincoln Co. Sheriff Candidate Accused Of Assault, Battery

A man running for Lincoln County sheriff is facing criminal charges in Lincoln County.

Those charges stem from an incident when John Tice was working for the sheriff's department and assisting in arresting a suspect.

Tice is charged with punching a handcuffed suspect in the face as he was putting him in the back of a vehicle. 

Dashcam video shows the alleged assault that led to the misdemeanor assault and battery charges.

Tice later told an OSBI agent the man he was arresting, John Fisher, spat on him so he struck Fisher as a "distractionary blow" to prevent further spitting or head butting. 

“All I did was strike him one time and the entire goal of that strike was to keep him from assaulting me further,” said Tice.

The incident happened in April 2015. Tice said he was fired in August and now works for a mosquito control company.  In November, the Lincoln County District Attorney filed charges, a move that Tice thinks was politically motivated.

“Within a week of talking to people in the community and this rumor getting started that I was considering this the bench warrant came out for my arrest,” said Tice.

Tice is running against current Sheriff Charles Dougherty who said he didn't want to comment on case because charges are still pending in both the Fisher and Tice cases.

However, he did say what you see in the video is "not today's law enforcement."

Tice is the only one running against Dougherty. The election is in November.