Prosecutors drop 1 of 3 criminal charges against provocative NJ politician

🔴 This Dover councilman is due in court next Monday

🔴 Prosecutors dismissed one count of aggravated assault

🔴 Sergio Rodriguez still faces charges of assault and criminal coercion

DOVER — A local elected official who took cleaning this Morris County town's streets into his own hands has one less assault charge to fight in court.

Dover Councilman Sergio Rodriguez, 30, says he's been "completely absolved" after the Morris County Prosecutor's Office dismissed one count of aggravated assault.

The charge was related to an incident on Sept. 25, 2024, in Dover.

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Local police said Rodriguez, a Democrat, shoved a man to the ground and the victim's head slammed into a concrete wall as he fell. According to a police report, the victim suffered a cut on his head and he lost consciousness.

According to Morris County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Meghan Knab, the aggravated assault charge against Rodriguez was dropped because the victim was in poor health. In court, prosecutors said his poor health was affecting his memory.

However, Rodriguez said to New Jersey 101.5 that the Dover police were out to get him and lied about him attacking the victim. The councilman, who lost his bid for re-election in the June primary, claimed police wanted to tarnish his reputation.

Dover councilman due in Superior Court on Monday

While the most serious charge against Rodriguez has been dropped, he still faces two other criminal counts.

And Dover taxpayers are paying $35,000 for his criminal defense.

On Sept. 8, Rodriguez is due in Superior Court in Morris County. A grand jury indicted him on one count of fourth-degree criminal coercion.

Rodriguez, who was originally charged with official misconduct, is accused of threatening to pull a liquor store owner's liquor license if the business continued to sell to individuals seen drinking in a nearby courtyard.

After the indictment was handed up in July, Rodriguez said the case against him was "politically motivated and incredibly weak."

Another assault charge against Dover councilman

Along with the coercion charge, Rodriguez also faces another assault charge.

He's charged with simple assault, a disorderly persons offense, in connection with an incident on Feb. 7, 2024.

The case is being handled in municipal court in Kinnelon, according to Knab. He is due in court on Tuesday, Sept. 9, according to court records.

Just weeks into his first and only term as councilman, Rodriguez was accused of attacking a homeless man.

Dover police said he approached a group of three men downtown because one was drinking in public.

Rodriguez kicked the right hand of one of the men, police said. Authorities said he then chased the trio into a roadway and blocked their escape.

The councilman posted an edited video of the incident on Facebook, which has since been taken down. In the video, Rodriguez lectured them that they should not drink in public.

Rodriguez later apologized and said the incident was a "black eye" on Dover.

"I wholeheartedly agree with any comments that are saying that should not have acted in such an aggressive and harassing way. It is not fit of the office I hold and 100% not the image I want to make of our beautiful town," Rodriguez said. "I sincerely apologize to anybody that I responded to in such a nasty or hasty way."

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