ELLSWORTH – An Ellsworth man was arrested last week for disorderly conduct after an altercation with an Ellsworth Village Board member at a local gas station.

Sean Arron Hall, 54, was arrested for disorderly conduct and transported to Pierce County Jail, where he was released. Disorderly conduct, substantial battery and battery to election officials, election registration officials or clerks charges have been forwarded to the Pierce County District Attorney, who will determine what if any charges are appropriate.

Hall is vocal during public comment time at many Ellsworth Village Board meetings and on many social media platforms, including the Ellsworth community Facebook pages. He is often critical of the village board and its decisions and expresses his opinions frequently online.

According to the Ellsworth police report:

At 9:29 a.m. Thursday, July 2, police were dispatched to Cenex (610 E. Main St.) for a man who hit his head during an altercation with Hall. The man was identified as Ellsworth Village Board Trustee Tony Hines, 74, Ellsworth. When officers arrived, he was leaning against the building near the store’s main entrance. Hines allegedly pointed at Hall, who was nearby and told officers, “I said to him, when you come to a village board meeting you don’t come and start swearing and this shit.” Then Hines told officers that Hall shoved him with both hands in the chest and he fell down and hit his head.

Hines estimated he lost consciousness for about a minute when his head struck the concrete, but he wasn’t sure. Two people were on the scene who assisted him; police were able to speak with one of them. Some swelling was starting to appear on the back of Hines’ head, where a woman had placed two Band-aids to stop the bleeding.

Hines told police he was walking out of the store as Hall was walking in and that at the last village board meeting, there had been an issue. Hines said he spoke to Hall first (with the comment above) while pointing at him. He said Hall then shoved him and he fell to the ground. Hines couldn’t remember if Hall said anything to him or not.

Officers reviewed the Cenex surveillance videos, one of which is outside the south entrance door. Hall is seen on the video walking north toward the entrance. Door movement and the top of Hall’s head is seen; he is backing up holding the east door with his right hand, beginning to enter the doorway. At that point, Hines is seen in the video, facing the door with his back to the parking lot. He appears to be stepping back. Hall’s hand is seen on Hines’ left shoulder. Hall is seen on the video pushing Hines as they faced each other. Hines started to fall sideways and fell on his back in the parking lot, his head striking the pavement. The two cans of pop he had been holding rolled onto the sidewalk. The video then shows him laying motionless for about eight seconds before he starts moving; Hall is seen pacing to the north of Hines. Hall walks around Hines and is seen pointing at him with both hands several times. Soon a person walks up to the scene and begins exchanging words with Hall, who leans over and points at Hines. The witness walked toward Hall, who then backed up. Two people assisted Hines up off the ground and walked him toward the building.

A video from inside the store shows Hines entering at 9:22 a.m. and leaving at 9:26 a.m. Hall can be seen approaching the store. Hines exits the store as Hall approaches the door. Hines is seen raising his left arm, pointing at Hall and both men begin to rotate toward the right. As they rotate, Hall is not visible and it appears Hines is facing him. A few seconds later, it appears Hall is starting to walk into the store and his right foot crosses the door’s threshold. Hall starts to rotate toward Hines, who is still standing outside the entrance. Hall is seen going in Hines’ direction and there is a quick movement on the video.

Hall told police he had come to Cenex to get breakfast and something to drink. He said Hines was verbally harassing him as he was entering the store. He alleged he was trying to get past Hines and told him he didn’t want to talk about it. He said Hines said, “Yah, I know you don’t want to talk about it.” Hall claimed Hines shoulder-checked him by pushing his left shoulder into Hall’s chest as they were both going through the doors. He also claimed Hines poked him in the chest with his fingers. Hall said he pushed Hines to get him away from him and Hines fell off the curb and struck his head. He said two guys came over at that point and one of them wanted to fight him.

When Hall was arrested, he wanted to know why Hines wasn’t being arrested. Hall had no marks on his chest and said his pain level was a 1 on a scale of 1-10.

Hines went to Red Wing Mayo Hospital where he was treated for abrasions on both elbows, knees and a concussion. He said he did not touch Hall before being pushed. Hines said he has been having headaches since the incident and rated the pain an 8 on a scale of 1-10.

A male witness told police he had just finished putting gas in his vehicle when he heard a man yelling extremely loud. He saw Hines go down and heard his head strike the pavement. He said Hall came off the curb and he approached to see what was going on. The witness did not see any push, shove or hit.

Hall took to social media after the incident to defend his actions.

“So I was walking into Cenex as Tony was walking out and he started to verbally harrass me and assault me. He shoulder checked me and spun me around and finger jabbed me in the chest and I pushed him back off of me in self defense and he stumbled and fell off the curb and still tried to kick me while he was down. This was completely unprovoked and was me defending myself. Its my birthday today and he has ruined my weekend with my family. I got arrested and Tony did not. The chief told me that Tony can still be arrested for his actions that he started. I do not have a history of being violent nor a hothead. I am not an aggressive person. He came after me for no reason and I am recovering from 2 spinal fusion surgeries and rotator cuff surgery. I should not have been arrested and believe that Tony should have. He is not innocent in what happened. He was the aggressor and I have done nothing to him to cause him to attack me. I never deal with him directly, the only time I interact with him is in passing and sometimes at the village board meeting for which I have not attended in a couple of months except for the 1 online and only listened and said nothing. This is completely unfounded and he had no right to come after me. Once again I am defending myself and I will not be attacked online by people who do not know the facts and full story.”

The Ellsworth Village Board discussed the incident at its July 6 meeting. See Andrew Harrington’s story in this week’s edition.