Mount Laurel parents’ argument went viral — now one man faces bias charges

🚨Mount Laurel police charged a man after a confrontation between parents went viral

🚨The mother says their daughters were close friends until recent bullying

🚨Thomas Diiorio faces harassment and bias intimidation charges after the incident

MOUNT LAUREL — A man was charged after police were able to sort out what happened between two parents during an argument caught on video that went viral.

The brief clip shows a white man shouting "get the f**k out of here" at a Black woman in the parking lot of a townhouse neighborhood. The woman, who is on a cell phone, is asking out loud for someone to call the police.

Police say they were called to Saxony Drive around 6:25 p.m. and separated the man and woman after each accused the other of "wrongdoing." Neither one wanted to file a complaint against the other.

Following an investigation, Thomas Diiorio, 40, was charged with harassment and bias intimidation. He is being held at the Burlington County Jail.

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Dad charged after investigation into viral video

The woman in the video, Lakisha Spruill, told NJ.com that their daughters became close friends when they moved to Mount Laurel in 2023.  Spruill said her daughter had been bullied recently and she wanted to speak to Diiorio about it.

Diiorio became angry and used racial slurs but that part of the conversation was not caught on video, Spruill said. On his Facebook page, Diiorio said Spruill banged on his door and tried to pick a fight with his wife, according to NJ.com.

The incident happened in the Essex Place development, the home of Edward Cagney Mathews, who was charged with making a racist tirade against a neighbor in 2021. Mathews pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in state prison. Police also came under criticism at the time for not immediately reacting to complaints about Mathews.

Neighbors gathered in the neighborhood on Wednesday night to peacefully protest Diiorio but told NJ.com that police handled the situation properly this time.

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