Cops: Men Had Pot in Car

A routine traffic stop revealed two Hopatcong men were carrying pot, police said.

Jonathan Matrisciano and Jake Winch were charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Matrisciano was also charged with failure to exhibit documents and failure to maintain lamps.

An officer pulled over a vehicle after noticing its license plate lights were out on Hopatchung Road on Aug. 24 around 10:30 p.m., police said. The officer smelled a strong scent of marijuana coming from inside the car, police said.

Matrisciano at first denied carrying marijuana, but a pat-down revealed a object in Matrisciano's pocket, which he then admitted was marijuana, police said. Then Winch admitted to having four plastic bags of marijuana in his sneaker, police said.

After Matrisciano gave officers consent to search his car, an officer found a rolled marijuana blunt in the center console, along with a cigar wrap package used to roll the blunt, police said.

Police said Matrisciano also didn't provide a valid registration card.

Matrisciano and Winch were processed and released, police said.

For more information on this report, email brendan@patch.com.