A Washington Boro man will be under supervision for the next decade for using racial slurs while threatening a woman during a road-rage incident last year.
Roger G. Chenault recently pleaded guilty in Lancaster County Court to felony ethnic intimidation and related charges regarding the July 8 incident at Penn and Water streets in Washington Boro.
Lancaster County President Judge Dennis Reinaker sentenced Chenault to 10 years of probation. Chenault served a month in prison on the charges. President Judge Reinaker also made it a condition that Chenault not be permitted to drive. He must petition with a county judge for that privilege to be restored.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman told the president judge that the latest incident was not the first time Chenault has been involved in a road-rage dispute. Chenault was convicted of assault in 2013 and 2016 for: forcing an elderly man’s vehicle off the road and punching him in the face (2013) and for ramming another motorist’s vehicle (2016).
“This is a disturbing pattern of behavior,” Fetterman said. “It has to stop today.”
In the July 8 incident, Chenault veered in front of the victim’s vehicle multiple times and slammed on the brakes. At an intersection, he got out of his vehicle and confronted the victim who was in her vehicle, using racial slurs, threatening to shoot her, and waving his first at her face.
“I’ll shoot your brains out you (slur),” Chenault said, according to Manor Township police.
The victim appeared in court and asked Fetterman to read aloud a letter she wrote in which she says the incident was “extremely traumatizing and humiliating.”
“I’ve never encountered such a dark, evil, demonic human being,” she wrote. “He had no empathy or humanity, which really scared me.”
Chenault, who was in a wheelchair, said a work injury which led to the amputation of his left leg has impacted his thinking. He called the incident a “bad episode on a bad day.”
President Judge Reinaker said the injury does not excuse his behavior, while noting the prior convictions.
“This kind of language is absolutely despicable,” President Judge Reinaker said. “There is certainly a psychological effect this has on (the victim).”
Manor Township police Officer Colleen Tatara filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright