Click here to subscribe today or Login.
KINGSTON TWP. — A man from New York was arrested over the weekend after he fled two traffic stops while being questioned by a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resource officer about a marijuana odor coming from his vehicle.
Ethan Dieter Montenegro, 20, of Poughkeepsie, was arraigned Sunday by District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo Jr. in Plains Township on charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $5,000 bail.
The incident began in the parking lot at Frances Slocum State Park and ended when a Kingston Township police officer blocked Montenegro’s driving lane on Mount Olivet Road.
According to the criminal complaint:
A DCNR officer spotted a 2008 Honda Element, driven by Montenegro and occupied by a 21-year-old woman and a 1-year-old toddler, pull into a parking lot on Campground Road at about 7:10 p.m. Saturday, nearly 40 minutes after the park closed at sunset.
When the DCNR officer pulled near the Honda, Montenegro turned on his vehicle’s headlights.
The officer detected an odor of marijuana coming from the Honda and noticed a bag of suspected marijuana on the dashboard, the complaint says.
Montenegro denied there was any weed inside his vehicle.
Montenegro exited the vehicle and refused to provide his identification card.
As the officer was using his radio to communicate with Luzerne County 911, Montenegro got back into his vehicle and sped away turning onto Mount Olivet Road.
Montenegro stopped about one-half mile away, refusing to exit his vehicle and yelled at the officer.
Montenegro sped away a second time and was stopped by a Kingston Township police officer blocking his driving lane.
Police said the woman inside his vehicle has an active restraining order against Montenegro, the complaint says.
The criminal complaint says when the woman removed the toddler from the vehicle, a jar of suspected marijuana was observed on the rear seat floor of the Honda.
No charges were filed against the woman.