Embattled NJ Councilman Used Position To Threaten Business Owner, Prosecutor Says

DOVER, NJ — A Town of Dover councilman faces criminal charges after threatening to use his power to revoke a local liquor store's license, officials said.

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office accused Sergio Rodriguez, 29, of identifying himself as a public official before he tried to pressure a liquor store owner and employee to stop selling alcohol to certain people.

Rodriguez was arrested twice in 2024 after separate confrontations with men whom he said were drunk on the town's streets, as the Morristown Daily Record reported. He faces these new charges after an investigation by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

According to officials, Rodriguez went into the business on Oct. 25, 2024 and told an employee that the store's liquor license would not be renewed "if they continued to sell alcohol to individuals seen drinking in a nearby courtyard."

Later, the business owner and Rodriguez talked, and the councilman reportedly said he could prevent the store's license from being renewed if the owner "did not comply with his demands."

Rodriguez was charged with fourth-degree criminal coercion on Thursday. He was released pending a court appearance, officials said.

Dover Mayor James Dodd called for his resignation back in September, after Rodriguez reportedly caused "significant bodily injury" to another man and was charged with aggravated assault.