SHAMOKIN -- The vice chairman of a local school board faces criminal charges after police say he put on a mask and attacked a business owner with a stun gun.
That video store owner in Shamokin was shocked, beaten, and cursed at by two men, one whose voice he thought he recognized. That led to a four-week police investigation, and the trail led officers to a community leader in Northumberland County.
That community leader is Ronald McElwee.
Just two days ago, he was elected vice chairman of the Shamokin Area School Board. He's now an accused criminal, charged with a series of violent crimes including aggravated assault and other related charges.
McElwee, 34, spoke last year for the Shamokin Area School board after teachers went on strike.
McElwee lives on the same block as Len's Auto Parts Store. Store manager Michelle Raebuck can't believe he's now accused of a violent crime.
"No, it doesn't sound anything like him," said Raebuck "He's a nice guy."
According to police, several people at Rob's Good Time Grille on South Market Street watched a football game on television when a fight broke out in the bar between McElwee and the owner of a nearby video store.
Four days later, the police report claims McElwee and another man waited for M&T Video to close.
According to the police report, the owner of the business had just shut down for the night and was headed home, when he was attacked by a man wearing a hood and a mask and using Taser.
Police say Barton Koser of Coal Township also attacked the victim, and the report does not say if it was Koser or McElwee who actually zapped the victim in the neck, before both men punched and kicked the victim, and ran away.
Investigators used surveillance video from several locations in Shamokin to identify McElwee and Koser both are charged with assault, using a stun gun, and other criminal counts.
No one was in at McElwee's home when we tried to get a comment. He's seen as a community leader who last month lost in his race for Northumberland County prothonotary. But now his future as a school board member in Shamokin could be in doubt.
We reached out to the Shamokin Area School board president and have not yet heard back.
Mcelwee is out on bail and is due again in court Tuesday.