CENTRAL - Pastor Tony Spell addressed the media Wednesday, saying threats from his neighbor compelled him to run across a four-lane highway and attack the man. 

Spell, the main pastor of Life Tabernacle Church on Hooper Road, said he was working on a church bus when he heard the neighbor's son yelling from outside their home across the road. 

"He said, 'Tony, I'm gonna rape your wife, I'm gonna rape all of your grandchildren,' and he said, 'The next time you go out of town, I'm gonna kill them, and what the F are you going to do about it?" Spell said. 

The pastor said that as the "natural protector" of his family and church, it was his job to take action. 

"I have a duty and obligation to do what I did," Spell said. 

WBRZ spoke with the neighbors, the Sherwins, who said that Spell's claims are not true and connected to the recent end of a legal battle that started after Spell was arrested for disregarding Coronavirus mandates and holding church services while stay-at-home orders were in effect. 

"This pastor is a bully who gets mad when he does not get his way," the Sherwins said. 

Spell was alongside his attorney, Jeff Wittenbrink, and backed by church members who stood behind him during Wednesday's press conference. He claims that parishioners are also victims and have been shouted at by the church's neighbors.

"As a shepherd, I have not allowed the sheep to attack the wolves for what was said to them," Spell said. 

Wittenbrink said that members of the church have made many complaints about the Sherwins to the Central Police Department, which he claimed was working in conjunction with the neighboring family against Spell and the church. 

"The Central city police are friends with these folks across the street," he said. "When Pastor Spell was being surveilled 24/7, it was with the help of the man across the street." 

Wittenbrink said the neighbors have an extensive home security system, including "a large, industrial-scale camera that could see from across the street all the way into the pulpit."

The Sherwins said their cameras are the reason they were added to Spell's lawsuit against former Governor John Bel Edwards, Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran and East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux. 

Spell was issued six misdemeanor summonses by Central Police officers in 2020 when he continued holding church services while COVID cases across the state were rising.

Court documents show that in the same year, he was arrested for aggravated assault for allegedly trying to hit a protester outside of Life Tabernacle Church with the church's bus. His neighbors' cameras recorded the ordeal, which is why he added the Sherwins to the lawsuit in 2023. 

The Sherwins' cameras captured Tuesday's altercation. WBRZ obtained a clearer and closer view of the fight. During the video, Spell can be heard screaming what sounds like, “I’m going to break your neck!"

The pastor can also be seen on top of the 20-year-old alleged victim and turning his head aggressively. 

Spell was arrested by East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies and booked for second-degree battery. He bonded out of East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Tuesday evening. 

Watch the full news conference here: