PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Bucks County deputy sheriff is under arrest accused of abusing his position while making an arrest at a house in Levittown over the summer.

Prosecutors say Gary Browndorf was serving a warrant with other deputies at the Bristol Township house in late July, but they say he abused his power when he punched the man who had already been placed under arrest and had his hands cuffed behind his back.

District attorney David Heckler calls the assault a coward’s crime, but he says the 55-year-old Morrisville man went further.

“Of even greater gravity is the fact that Browndorf then swore out false criminal charges against both the person who was punched and that person’s girlfriend.”

That resulted in jail time for the woman. Heckler says the report indicated that Browndorf was the one who was assaulted.

He’s now facing numerous charges including simple assault, perjury and official oppression. Heckler says it was an informant who came forward in September and that’s when the investigation began.

Reported By Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio