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Mayor Exits Bus, Nearly Hit After McCartney Show
Tinley Park Mayor Jacob Vandenberg was nearly struck by a car as he got out of his party bus and began moving traffic cones while shouting “I’m the mayor” and demanding to bypass traffic lanes after a Paul McCartney show in the Illinois village July 26.
VoteSmart.org – Tinley Park Mayor Jacob Vandenberg
Police reports obtained through a public records request show that Vandenberg moved the cones without permission and that officers responsible for directing traffic after the concert at
One officer wrote in her memo that Vandenberg shouted “mayor coming through” as he began moving cones at her post, and then yelled, “I’m the mayor” as he moved a second set of cones to allow the bus to successfully pass. The unnamed officer wrote that once she recognized him as the mayor, she didn’t stop him from moving the cones.
Another officer at a post closer to the venue said in his memo that Vandenberg also moved traffic cones to open a path for the bus, saying, “I am the mayor of Tinley Park and I need to get out of here.”
One officer’s memo noted that as Vandenberg stood at an intersection near his post, several vehicles had to maneuver to avoid striking the mayor.
Vandenberg said in a statement August 11 that he “should not have interfered” with the officers’ duties and apologized for any “interference or offense they perceived that evening.”
The mayor said he, relatives and friends were on the bus, and that while leaving the concert, “I, like many concertgoers that evening, grew frustrated with the traffic pattern and the gridlock it was causing.”
Six police personnel filed memos regarding their encounters with the mayor. The officers were instructed to file the documents by the sergeant in charge of the venue’s detail that night, said police Chief Steve Neubauer