BATON ROUGE — A protective order was issued against Rev. Tony Spell on Friday, weeks after he allegedly ran across a four-lane highway to attack his neighbor's son.

Spell was arrested on a count of second-degree battery on June 23 after the altercation with his neighbor. Security video from the neighboring Sherwins' home showed Spell and their son punching one another off the shoulder of the Highway. Spell states his neighbor's son threatened to rape his wife and grandchildren, which the neighbor's son has denied. 

The protective order states Spell is not to contact the victim or his family electronically or directly, including through social media. Spell must also stay 50 yards away from his neighbor's home, with one handwritten exception.

"Mr. Spell may walk over and check his mailbox; other than checking his mailbox, he is to be 50 yards away from the protected person's property," the order states.

This order comes after bodycam footage was released of Spell calling his neighbor's son a homophobic slur and threatening a man two days after his arrest. 

"He's just sore because I beat the crap out of his f****t boy," Spell said in the video. "And he's next if he comes over here and harasses these boys," Spell said in reference to some teenagers next to him.

The Sherwins say they have been in a years-long legal battle that began with Spell holding church services during the Coronavirus pandemic. Spell sued the couple in 2023, adding them to a lawsuit he filed against former Governor John Bel Edwards, Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran, and East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux following statewide COVID mandates. 

Spell was issued six misdemeanor summonses by Central Police officers in 2020 when he held church services as COVID cases continued to rise in the state. He was arrested for aggravated assault for allegedly trying to hit a protester outside of Life Tabernacle Church with the church's bus in 2020. He was never officially charged in the case.