Centre County man shocked with Taser, arrested at Wingate Elementary School
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Police arrested Shawn Huilker at Wingate Elementary for DUI and child endangerment.
- A preliminary breath test showed a reading more than four times the legal limit.
- Police said they used a Taser after he resisted arrest and grabbed a trooper’s handcuffs.
A Centre County man was shocked with a Taser and arrested Tuesday after police said he was drunk and combative while at Wingate Elementary School to pick up a child during dismissal.
Shawn J. Huilker, 37, of Milesburg, was charged with two felony counts of child endangerment and misdemeanor counts of DUI and resisting arrest. He’s also facing a citation for public drunkenness and two traffic violations.
Huilker smelled of alcohol and had glassy, bloodshot eyes shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, state police at Rockview wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. A trooper said a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old were in his car, while school police officer Frances Pollack said he had an open container of malt liquor in the driver’s side door.
A preliminary breath test showed a reading of 0.348%, an amount more than four times the legal limit for driving. He also failed field sobriety tests, police wrote.
After being told he would be arrested for suspicion of DUI, a trooper said Huilker resisted by refusing to place his arms behind his back and attempting to pull away. He also grabbed a trooper’s handcuffs and was shocked with a Taser after he did not let go, police wrote.
Even after he was handcuffed, police said Huilker refused to stand up and was carried to a police car. He refused a blood test at Mount Nittany Medical Center, police wrote.
No defense lawyer was listed. The Centre County Public Defender Office said Huilker had not applied for representation as of Wednesday afternoon.
In an email sent to district families Tuesday night, Bald Eagle Area School District Superintendent Chris Santini said Pollack acted quickly after a parent reported seeing concerning behavior from Huilker.
Nearly all students had left the school’s campus before the arrest, Santini told the Centre Daily Times on Wednesday. Only the child Huilker was there to pick up and a few children of school staff members were on campus.
Santini said the child was in the care of two teachers and played in the gym while Huilker was being arrested.
He was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Casey McClain, who set bail at 10% of $10,000. Huilker is incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 28.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 1:33 PM.