Georgia sheriff arrests ex-deputy who wants to unseat him

A county sheriff in Georgia on Monday issued arrest warrants for a former deputy who recently announced plans to run for his job.

Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill issued the arrest warrants for Robert Hawes, charging him with making false statements, filing false documentation and violating his oath as a public officer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

{mosads}Hawes earlier this month announced his plans to run for county sheriff in 2020, according to the newspaper, which added that he was booked into county jail Monday night and is awaiting a bond hearing.   

Hawes’s arrest comes less than a week after his wife, Gerrian Hawes, was arrested over emails she sent that Hill called harassing, according to the Journal-Constitution.

The newspaper reported that the couple has accused Hill “of trying to intimidate them” because Robert Hawes announced he was running for sheriff in the county, which is south of Atlanta.

Hill wrote in arrest warrants for Robert Hawes that the charges against him stem from a 2017 incident in which he was alleged to have lied about selling a weapon to an Atlanta Police Department officer, according to the newspaper.