TROY — A 22-year-old Troy man is facing an assault charge for allegedly choking a 12-year-old boy. The Waldo County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that Paul Hustus placed the placed the boy in a choke-hold for several minutes to the point that he almost blacked out. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a Troy home on Wednesday evening after getting called by the alleged victim’s mother. Witnesses say the boy was in obvious distress and police found marks on his neck and ruptured blood vessels. Hustus told police he was “just horsing around” and didn’t think he had squeezed the boy that hard. Hustus is free on $1,500 bail.