A Taunton crossing guard accused of attacking a parent with a handheld stop sign before allegedly assaulting journalists outside of court has been ordered held on $250 bail.

If posted, Louis F. Chaves, 68, must undergo a mental health evaluation and meet other pre-release conditions, a judge at Taunton District Court ruled Tuesday.

Chaves’ appearance on Tuesday came after he allegedly got into a physical altercation with journalists outside the courthouse Monday afternoon who were covering the crossing guard’s arraignment connected to the alleged attack on a parent outside of a school in the morning.

A pair of journalists were among those who tried to interview Chaves walking out of the courthouse, but Chaves allegedly charged at and started kicking one of them, according to police and video footage from local TV stations. Chaves then proceeded to swing at the other journalist and threw a branch their way, police said.

Chaves, who is no longer employed in the Taunton school district, faces charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon with a shod foot, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon with a stick/branch, in connection to the alleged attack on the journalist.

A judge on Monday released Chaves on personal recognizance in connection to the earlier attack on the parent, but the judge warned if Chaves got arrested again, he’d be placed in jail.

Chaves’ chaotic day with law enforcement began Monday around 7:30 a.m., when a mother had to sneeze while driving her children past Taunton High School, according to a police report.

The mother stopped her car in the middle of the intersection as she reached for a tissue to blow her nose, but that didn’t sit well with Chaves as he approached the passenger side window and screamed at her to continue driving, the police report states.

The driver shouted at Chaves for yelling at her in front of her children, police wrote.

“At this time the crossing guard put his stop sign stick through the passenger window and started to (swing) it around calling her a [expletive] and she needs to get the [expletive] out of here,” police wrote. “It bears noting while Louis was swinging the stop sign stick in the vehicle he was striking [the driver’s] daughter … in the arm.”

That prompted the mother to get out of her car and approach the crossing guard, further agitating Chaves who allegedly “started to attack her with a stop sign stick” before pushing her to the ground.

The mother accused Chaves of dragging and kicking her. She told WPRI 12 News in Rhode Island that “I ended up with a lump on my head, a bruise on the side of my face and a cut on my wrist. I don’t know what made him snap and act the way he did … He just didn’t seem like he was in his right mind at that moment.”

It didn’t take long for the Taunton school district to take action on Chaves, firing him hours after the incident with the mother, an official said in a statement.

“As a result of this incident, the crossing guard has been terminated, effective immediately, and is no longer an employee of Taunton Public Schools,” officials said.