The Oct. 19 Tuckerton Borough Council meeting was mostly business as usual, except for an outburst by a member of the public that left council and police confused.

“I’m here to inform everybody of the tyrants in this town. I have video, you’re tyrants. You’re corrupt police,” the man, who would identify himself only as Steve, said during the public comment session.

He claimed Councilman Keith Vreeland had directed police to search him outside of the borough hall before or during the meeting because the councilman “thought I had a weapon in my waistband.” He then also claimed he had a video of a Tuckerton police officer “trying to run me over” outside of Tuckerton Elementary School. When council members said he could not hook his phone up to a computer or larger screen to show the video as he wanted to, he said he would come to the next meeting with a screen so everyone could see it.

“I’m hoping not to get searched again. I have videos of cops almost running me over on the sidewalk. I came here to make police reports over a 6-year-old child, with three cops surrounding me, with their hands on their weapons, when I have paper in my hands. And then I just get searched again here? That’s kind of pathetic,” he said.

Chief Brian Olsen was present at the meeting; he did not respond to any of the man’s claims.

“Everybody’s afraid of the camera. Every time I come and make police reports, there’s hands on the weapons. Not once have I shown aggression, not once have I shown anything – a weapon, retaliation, anything. I will be here every single meeting,” Steve said.

“You shouldn’t have made assumptions that I had a weapon in my waistband, sir,” he said, addressing Vreeland.

“I never made that assumption,” Vreeland said.

The man also said he would be at the next board of education meeting, “where your officers escorted me out. That’s against the law,” he said, directing his comments to the chief.

A man was escorted out of the most recent Tuckerton Board of Education meeting on Sept. 28 after causing a disruption.

“You keep trying to keep me out of every meeting,” Steve said to Olsen.

When he was told his time was up, he became more hostile, yelling expletives at the council and calling them names on his way out the door. His shouting could still be heard through the halls after he left.

Council members were confused by his reason for being there, and all said they did not know who he was or what exactly his complaint for the council was.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen him in my life,” Vreeland said, particularly perplexed by the man’s comments directed toward him.

The next Tuckerton council meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.