Former mayoral candidate charged with simple assault over domestic disturbance

Lebanon photographer and former mayoral candidate Scott Church, 53, whose legal name is Scott Hawryluk, was charged Tuesday, June 3, with misdemeanor simple assault and summary harassment over an incident alleged to have occurred on Saturday, May 31.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Lebanon city police met with a woman on Monday afternoon, June 2, to take a formal report of a “physical domestic” disturbance. The woman told Lebanon police about a physical altercation that allegedly took place on Saturday, May 31, and to which other city units responded at the time it occurred.

The affidavit of probable cause, written by Officer Colin Shearer, states that at around 9:06 p.m. Saturday, city units were dispatched to a residence on the 400 block of Chestnut Street for a report of a domestic disturbance.

When police arrived at the scene Saturday, the woman told officers that her boyfriend, identified as Church, had “grabbed her by her sweatshirt and threw her back and forth, causing severe pain to her lower back,” according to the affidavit.

The affidavit says that the woman told police that Church was looking for her gun and kept telling her to “go get the gun and shoot me in the face.” She also told officers at the scene that she feared for her life.

The woman had posted video of the incident to social media on Monday, but LebTown is not linking to the post or naming the woman here in accordance with our editorial policies related to identifying victims.

The woman went to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital on Sunday, June 1, for her injuries. Police said medical records indicated she sustained bodily injury from the physical altercation. Police quoted the medical exam as stating, “CT lumbar shows at L4-L5 there are findings for a left paracentral dorsal subligamentous disc herniation with severe compromise of the left lateral neural foramen and minor central canal stenosis.”

Police said the woman and Church had been in a romantic relationship for about nine months and resided together at the Chestnut Street address.

According to court records, Church was confined to Lebanon County Correctional Facility in lieu of bail, which was set at $2,500.

He is scheduled to appear in front of Magisterial District Judge Maria M. Dissinger on Thursday, June 12, for a preliminary hearing.

Church announced a primary bid to be the Republican candidate for Lebanon city mayor in January, but was removed from the ballot following a petition challenge in March. He later explored the idea of running for mayor as a Libertarian, but was unable to do so except as a write-in because of the so-called “sore loser” law.