Cory Booker's Former Driver Retires from Police Force, Takes Job at Newark Housing Authority While Collecting Disability Pension

The double dip

Newark police Detective Hector Rodriguez retired from the city police department with a disability pension on April 1.

By April 29 he was back on the public payroll as the Newark Housing Authority's director of security.

A former driver for Mayor Cory Booker, as well as for Booker's chief-of-staff Modia Butler and former chief-of-staff Pablo Fonseca, Rodriguez is just the latest public employee to exercise the time-honored Jersey practice known as "the double dip," collecting a public pension and public salary simultaneously.

Rodriguez's take-home pay between the new job and his disability pension is $143,000 according to public records and officials.