INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A sheriff's deputy from a rural Indiana county has been indicted on federal civil rights charges.
U.S. attorneys say Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Terry Joe Smith was arrested at his home in Greencastle early Monday morning. He's being held for U.S. marshals at the Vigo County Jail in Terre Haute.
The four-count indictment accuses Smith of repeated acts of violence, including forcing a woman's face into rocks at a truck stop and using a stun gun on a prisoner who was already being held by other officers. The victim in the second case was sent to the hospital.
Smith is also a member of the Greencastle City Council.
Officials say the arrest resulted from the work of a federal public corruption task force that's yielded 30 arrests in two years.
