A Newark, N.J., City Council meeting to decide who would fill a vacant council seat descended into chaos, with angry residents rushing the stage and police using pepper spray to end the near-riot, according to media reports.

Dozens of people rushed the stage Tuesday night after Mayor Cory Booker made a rare appearance at the meeting and cast the deciding vote to fill the vacancy left by Donald Payne Jr., who was elected to Congress, the Newark Star-Ledger reported.

Booker, invoking a law that gives the mayor a vote in the absence of a quorum, backed Shanique Davis Speight for the seat, raising the ire of many in the packed council chamber who supported John Sharpe James, the son of former mayor Sharpe James. James is an avowed opponent of Booker, who lost to James’ father in the 2002 mayoral race before winning in 2006.

An attempt was made to swear in Speight, but people in the audience protested, with some chanting, "Cory's gotta go!" Several people in the audience shouted and gestured animatedly toward the stage, ignoring appeals to sit down.

“People in the crowd stood up and said it was unlawful,” South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka told the Montclair Patch.

Speight was ultimately ushered out of the room and sworn in later by the city clerk.

Police moved in to try to control the crowd after a group, led by SEIU Local 617 President Rahaman Muhammad, rushed toward the dais, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. In the chaos, people were shoved, a podium was knocked over and an officer doused Muhammad with pepper spray, according to the Star-Ledger. Others in the hall snapped pictures and video of the chaos on their cellphones and tablet computers.

Earl Best, a community activist known as "Street Doctor," told the Montclair Patch he was also sprayed and had to go to a hospital for treatment. Baraka said his mother had also been sprayed, according to the Montclair Patch. 

Muhammad was arrested and charged with assaulting Speight and City Clerk Robert Marasco, resisting arrest and inciting a riot, Police Director Samuel DeMaio told the Star-Ledger.

DeMaio said the officer’s use of the pepper spray will be reviewed but noted that it might be warranted in such a chaotic scenario.

"From what I see right now at face value, in the situation that they had there with the crowd surging toward the council desk … the officer made a decision," he said, according to the Star-Ledger.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET Friday: Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker suffered second-degree burns and smoke inhalation as he helped rescue one of his next-door neighbors from a burning building Thursday.

“There was a time when I didn’t think we’d make it out of there,” Booker told media at a news conference Friday morning, describing the rescue as his "proverbial 'come to Jesus' moment."

“I didn’t feel bravery; I felt terror," he said, adding: "There was a moment I felt very religious."

Booker returned home to his home in the Upper Clinton Hill neighborhood of Newark Thursday evening to find the building next door was on fire, the The Star-Ledger newspaper said.

"We got everybody out of the house, but their daughter’s screaming, ‘I’m upstairs!’" he told the paper.

He went in, followed by his security detail, and heard cries for help from upstairs. When he got to the second floor, he was engulfed in flames and smoke.

"I suddenly had the realization that I can't find this woman," Booker told The Star-Ledger newspaper. "I look behind me and see the flames and I think, 'I'm not going to get out of here.' Suddenly I was at peace with the fact that I was going to jump out the window."

Twitter on fire with #CoryBooker stories

Then he heard the woman's voice again from another bedroom.

"I just grabbed her and whipped her out of the bed," Booker said.

They got downstairs, but then collapsed, Booker said.

The paper reported a total of five people went the hospital: the mayor, three members of his security detail, and the woman from the house.

Rescued woman has back, neck burns
The woman was listed in stable condition in the hospital, the Star-Ledger said. She had burns to her back and neck.

Fire Chief John Centanni told The Star-Ledger that the mayor may have saved the woman's life.

On Friday, Booker said he used to think he had problems. "Now everything seems so small in my life."

Booker was treated for burns on his hand and for breathing in smoke, the paper added.

"Thanks 2 all who are concerned. Just suffering smoke inhalation. We got the woman out of the house. We are both off to hospital. I will b ok," Booker said in a message on his Twitter account.

"Thanks everyone, my injuries were relatively minor. Thanks to Det. Alex Rodriguez who helped get all of the people out of the house," he added on Twitter.

Another Twitter user, Alethea Felton, said in a message responding to Booker's tweet, "@CoryBooker Wow...I can't wait until you're PRESIDENT oneday-YOU ROCK! God bless you for your devotion & humility to those you serve."

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