HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A former Alabama sheriff’s deputy faces federal charges of assaulting a man and trying to cover it up.
The Justice Department announced charges Monday against former Madison County deputy Justin Adam Watson.
The 29-year-old Watson is charged with two civil rights counts for allegedly stopping a man illegally and assaulting him in August 2012.
He’s charged with three counts of obstructing justice for allegedly lying about the assault and encouraging two other people to lie. The indictment alleges Watson put an unloaded gun to one man’s head and pulled the trigger.
The indictment doesn’t name the victim. But handyman Robert Bryant filed suit last year against Watson and others claiming he was attacked on a roadside and injured.