Bridgette Digerolamo, a LouisianaP.E. teacher, is facing multiple charges after threatening a Black family with a bat and a gun as they drove down her flooded neighborhood street, WBRZ reports.
The incident occurred on Monday in Shenandoah, as Demetra Turner-Louis, her husband and teenage daughter drove past the corner of Confederate Ave. and Chattanooga Drive, which had been flooded by torrential rain.
Turner-Louis told the news station that neighbors had lined the roadway, politely asking for drivers to be careful so that the speed of the vehicles would not push water into homes, but 38-year-old Bridgette Digerolamo had apparently lost all patience.
“As our truck approached her, she came to the car with the bat and started yelling and screaming, telling us to ‘turn our f—ing truck around because her house is going to flood,” Turner-Louis told WBRZ.
Digerolamo allegedly hit the family’s truck with the bat, although no visible damage was left on the truck, as she screamed at them for not caring about her house. She then left, only to return with a handgun.
Digerolamo was ultimately arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm and criminal damage to property and had her bond set at $2,500. She was later released from jail.
According to WBRZ, when questioned about her actions, Digerolamo claimed that she was fearful of her life.
“I was in fear of my life, and my child’s life, I want an attorney,” she said.
Turner-Louis brushed off the idea.
“We didn’t have any weapons. She had a bat, she had a gun. We didn’t have anything. So her life wasn’t threatened,” Turner-Louis said.
Turner-Louis later revealed that Digerolamo’s husband apparently asked them to consider dropping the charges, which the family has refused to do.
Bridgette Digerolamo allegedly hit the family’s truck with a baseball bat (WBRZ)
“Her [husband’s] attempt to ask us… he spoke to my husband… if we would consider dropping the charges,” Turner-Louis said. “I said no. The gun could have gone off and I could be dead, and anyone else could be. She needs to understand that’s not the way you do things.”
In addition to the charges, Digerolamo, who is a P.E. teacher in the East Baton Rouge Parish System, is also facing an investigation within the school system.
“The East Baton Rouge Parish School System is aware of an incident that occurred Monday, July 6, involving an employee,” the school district said in a statement. “Per district policy, we are conducting an investigation of this incident and, following completion of the investigation, will make a final determination pursuant to district policies and procedures.”
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