Edward Leon Rhoudes (Jail photo)

WACO (August 7, 2012)--The Democratic candidate for sheriff in Hill County ended up on the wrong side of the bars over the weekend in Waco after his arrest for assault in connection with what police said was a road rage incident.

Edward Leon Rhoudes, 45, was free on $2,500 bond Tuesday after his arrest on Friday on a misdemeanor assault charge and court records that News 10 obtained Tuesday show it’s not his first brush with the law.

Rhoudes, who lists an address in Aquilla, is running for sheriff against Republican Michael Cox, a Hillsboro police sergeant, in the November election.

In the most recent incident, Waco police arrested Rhoudes Friday on a warrant that was issued in connection with an incident on June 8 that occurred after a car and a pickup truck nearly collided on Interstate 35.

Both drivers exited the highway and in a confrontation that followed at the intersection of South 4th Street and the I-35 access road, the driver of the car was punched in the face.

An arrest warrant was issued for Rhoudes after investigators reviewed several photos that witnesses took with their cell phones that showed the pickup's driver choking and hitting the other driver.

Hill County records show that Rhoudes was arrested, charged and convicted in 2008 of assault causing bodily injury in connection with a September 2007 incident in which he struck another man in the face.

Rhoudes appeared in County Court at Law in Hill County on May 6, 2008 where he pleaded guilty to the Class A misdemeanor, was sentenced to serve two days in county jail and was fined $400.