Deputy Austin Cape says he was Assaulted by Sheriff David Westrick

A Defiance County Sheriff's Deputy says he was assaulted---by the Sheriff himself.

Deputy Austin Cape says he responded to a call at the home of a critic of Sheriff David Westrick last April. While investigating an illegal burning charge, Cape says the homeowner began ripping the Sheriff about his son's addiction to pain killers.

Cape left without issuing a ticket.

When he returned to the office, he says, the sheriff flew into a rage. "I was sitting there and I heard the sheriff call me a (expletive) at least a half dozen times," Deputy Cape says. "He just kept saying Cape's a (expletive) and he won't defend my family and won't defend the office."

So, Deputy Cape says, he took off his gun, planning to quit--and that's when the sheriff attacked. "He kinda grabbed me by the shirt collar and at the same time I leaned up against the wall and he just kinda followed me in with his hands on my shirt collar and the whole time, just screaming at me", Cape says.

The sheriff later went to Cape's parents house to apologize, but didn't realize they were secretly taping the conversation. In it, Westrick can be heard apologizing for his actions--although he never admits to assaulting Cape.

We confronted the sheriff, and he says, he never attacked the deputy. "The absolute most I would do is put my hand on his shoulder.", Westrick says, "But I did not push. I did not shove. That's not me".