Yeah, that wasn't a smart move. I know he wanted his phone back, but heading to a rando not good area could have ended a lot worse. When I lived in NOLA there were a number of gang initiation murders where a random person was shot in the face. The majority of them occurred in more deserted parts of the quarter (mostly eastern quarter near Esplanade). It was pretty fucked up.
I got the feeling once you got past the gay part just past Lafite's you were entering the Heart of Darkness.
Esplanade Street is neat looking tho.