No Charges After Altercation Between Tuscaloosa Councilman, Shelton State Admin

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated with a comment from Councilor Matthew Wilson.

TUSCALOOSA, AL — No charges have been filed as of yet following an alleged verbal altercation between a sitting Tuscaloosa city councilman and an administrator from Shelton State Community College.

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In a copy of a Tuscaloosa Police Department incident report obtained by Tuscaloosa Patch, District 1 Councilor Matthew Wilson told police last week that he was recently harassed and intimidated on the Shelton State campus by SSCC Dean of Community Relations Joe Eatmon.

The report was filed on Oct. 12, six days after the alleged altercation on Oct. 6.

According to the report, Wilson claimed to police that Eatmon texted and messaged him a few times so they could talk. However, Wilson said he did not know what Eatmon wanted to discuss.

Later at a school function on Oct. 6, Wilson said he saw Eatmon and greeted him.

The report then says it was at this time that Eatmon allegedly told Wilson to "keep his name out of his mouth."

The report lists allegations by Wilson, a pastor, that Eatmon used foul language during the verbal altercation that lasted for a few minutes.

Wilson then claimed that Eatmon told him "we can go outside and handle this," with Wilson saying others witnessed the altercation.

The incident report says Wilson separated himself from Eatmon and waited a short time to leave the school's Martin campus. However, Wilson told police that when he went to leave, Eatmon was waiting outside for him.

Indeed, Wilson claims Eatmon was holding his hand up with closed fists and said "what you gonna do?"

Wilson then reportedly walked to his vehicle and left without any kind of physical altercation.

“The facts from within the police report speak for themselves, more importantly, we should be able to agree to disagree, without the threat of violence," Wilson told Tuscaloosa Patch on Tuesday.

Eatmon, however, told Tuscaloosa Patch that the allegations are baseless — a notion he says is underscored by the fact that the police report was filed almost a week after the incident and there have been no charges filed.

"It's a shame that we have a city councilman who is the councilman of the district in town with the highest crime rate wasting police resources to try and bully everyday citizens," Eatmon said.

It's also worth pointing out that this is not the first time Wilson has filed a police report that did not yield any criminal charges against the accused.

For example, Tuscaloosa Patch has confirmed past police reports filed by Wilson against individuals ranging from his former school board opponent Que Chandler to former Tuscaloosa County NAACP President Jerry Carter. Both Chandler and Carter told Patch that no charges were ever brought up after the incident reports were filed.

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