CENTRAL - A controversial pastor was arrested Tuesday after allegedly attacking a person who lives across from his church. 

Mark Anthony "Tony" Spell, the pastor of Life Tabernacle Church along Hooper Road, was arrested and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for second-degree battery on Tuesday. 

WBRZ spoke with the Sherwins, who live across the street. They said Spell ran across the four-lane highway and started attacking their son.

Video from the Sherwins' home security system showed Spell and their son punching one another off the shoulder of the highway. Footage appears to show the pastor throwing the victim to the ground, getting on top of him and continuing to hit him. The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for his injuries. 

Woody Jenkins, the editor of Central City News, posted that the alleged beating was sparked by the victim making threats against the pastor and his family. Jenkins said the threats had been reported to the Central Police Department, and no action had been taken. 

However, WBRZ reached out to Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran, who said no reports had been made to them.

"Woody Jenkins is a coward that hides behind a keyboard," Corcoran said. 

The Sherwins say Tuesday's arrest is tied to the recent end of a years-long legal battle that began when Spell was holding church services through the Coronavirus pandemic. 

"This is Pastor Spell lashing out, like he always does, when he doesn't get his way," the Sherwins said. 

Spell sued the couple in 2023, adding them to a lawsuit he filed against former Governor John Bel Edwards, Corcoran and East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux following statewide COVID mandates. 

The suit, which was dismissed in 2024, was thrown out for the second time recently. It centered around Spell's interactions with the Central Police Department.

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. 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.

Arrest paperwork says the ordeal was caught on camera by his neighbor's home security system, which is why he added the Sherwins to the lawsuit in 2023. An updated court filing says the couple was "cooperating with those officials to install sophisticated cameras and monitoring devices on and in their home for the purposes of monitoring the activities of Pastor Spell, his family, and Life Tabernacle Church members and attendees."