TOBYHANNA, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A police pursuit in Monroe County on Wednesday led to a Brooklyn, New York man being charged with drug possession.
According to the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department (PMRPD), on Wednesday, February 8, officers tried to stop a vehicle around 10:30 a.m., on Route 196 in Coolbaugh Township.
Police say as they tried to pull over the grey color BMW sedan, the vehicle ignored the traffic stop and continued to travel on Route 196 before making a U-turn at the K&L gate of Pocono County Place.
According to police, the vehicle began traveling faster in the southbound direction of Route 196 before they were able to bring the vehicle to a stop. However, the driver then fled on foot into a gated community, officers say.
PMRPD says they were able to identify the driver as 19-year-old Carmine Villafane, of Brooklyn, New York, and he was eventually taken into custody around 4:00 p.m. Police say they searched Villafane’s vehicle and found marijuana and drug paraphernalia and the vehicle itself was not street-legal.
Villafane was taken to the Monroe County Correctional Facility and charged with fleeing and eluding, recklessly endangering another person, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and numerous citations for traffic violations.
He is being held at the prison on $10,000 unsecured bail until his preliminary hearing, scheduled for February 22 at 10:00 a.m.
