A man elected South Whitehall Township constable in 2021 is accused of illegally using emergency lights and sirens in an attempt to pull over a woman last month in Allentown, according to authorities.

Manuel Rodriguez, 70, of South Whitehall Township, is also accused of scratching that woman while he tried to give her civil paperwork, police said.

Rodriguez faces a misdemeanor charge of impersonating a public servant, and summary offenses of harassment and displaying improper lights. He was issued a summons Thursday, and will be arraigned on the charges during his preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for later this month.

Allentown police Officer Chelsea Yenca wrote in court documents that she was on patrol Sept. 29 when she saw a black SUV, later determined to be driven by Rodriguez, with red and blue emergency lights traveling east on Fairview Street toward 13th Street. It was following another SUV, according to police.

Rodriguez’s vehicle was then seen turning onto Walnut Street, continuing east with lights and siren turned on, court documents allege. Yenca turned on her own emergency lights and sirens, and Rodriguez pulled diagonally in front of the SUV he was following to block it, police said.

Rodriguez told Yenca that he was a constable out of Lehigh County, and was serving a woman, the driver of the SUV, with civil paperwork, according to authorities. The woman was upset and told police that he approached her earlier, banged on her vehicle window, tried to hold her window from closing and scratched her on her right arm, court documents state. She then fled, and Rodriguez followed her with the emergency lights and siren until she was stopped, police said.

The use of emergency red lights and siren on a personal vehicle is prohibited under state law, according to a police affidavit..

Attempts to reach Rodriguez for comment through the numbers listed on court paperwork were not successful. He did not have an attorney listed for him Friday afternoon.

In 2020, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to settle allegations he lied about his Monroe County address to get elected as a constable, according to Morning Call reporting. The Monroe County District Attorney’s office said at the time that Rodriguez, a constable in Delaware Water Gap, sought reelection in 2019, but he had actually been living in the Bronx in New York. Authorities alleged he lied about his address on official election paperwork.

Constables and deputy constables have to live in the municipality where they are elected or appointed.

He pleaded guilty to a summary charge of disorderly conduct in that case, and agreed to not seek election in Pennsylvania or any other state, according to previous reporting. He was elected constable in South Whitehall Township in 2021.

He is a certified constable in Pennsylvania, and his certification ends this year, according to state records.