Charges have been reduced against two white men who are accused of shouting racial slurs and shooting at two black DPW workers on Hoo Shoo Too Road near Old Jefferson Highway last August. The incident has shaken up the whole department.

What happens behind closed doors, apparently stays there. Thomas Allen showed up for a meeting with the district attorney's office. No one will say what was said, but it all stems from what allegedly happened last August. "I was hollered racial slurs, threatened, and was shot at," Allen says. Bullet holes through a stop sign in the area are a reminder of the panic. On August 23rd, Allen and another public works employee were waiting off Hoo Shoo Too Road for a replacement tractor to finish cutting grass, when they say two men drove by. "They stopped and made it clear that I was a 'n-----' and I ain't had no business back there in their neighborhood cutting grass."

Deputies say Eric Arnaud and Christopher Roussell shouted racial slurs, but didn't stop there. They say the two then drove back to a home on Kendalwood Road, got a shotgun, and went back. Deputies say Arnaud allegedly fired shots, aiming at the two DPW workers. "Man, I took off running," Allen says. "These were two lives and the employees are very scared. Have no way of defending themselves. Actually being shot at, you can see the fear in their heart when they go out there," says John Fisher. He is the street supervisor and has not allowed any of his workers back here. He says the only way they'll work in the area is with the protection of law enforcement. "My life could been took. It's by the grace of God I'm still here," Allen says.
Fisher says he has already talked with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office about getting an escort when they do return to the area.

Source: WAFB, Tyana Williams