Driver on Pills, Pot Blocked Intersection, Cops Say

A 19-year-old Boonton man was arrested and charged with possession of drugs after his vehicle was found blocking the intersection at Brooklyn Road and Lakeside Boulevard on Feb. 3, Hopatcong Police Lt. Thomas Kmetz said.

According to Kmetz, Sgt. Meghan Antonello was behind a vehicle on Brooklyn Road and observed it rolling through the traffic light into the intersection. Upon speaking with the driver, Christopher Sanford, Antonello smelled the strong odor of burnt marijuana from within the vehicle, Kmetz said.

According to police, Sanford was given field sobriety tests which he failed and further investigation found that he had taken 48 cold and cough pills and Xanax during the day. Sanford was arrested, taken to headquarters, given the Alcotest and a DRE exam, charged and released to friend, police said.

Police said the passenger in the vehicle, 18-year-old Victoria Schinzel of Fredon was the owner of the vehicle and had a pipe under her clothes on the passenger floor. According to police, both the driver and passenger smoked marijuana in the vehicle before they were pulled over. Schinzel was also arrested, taken to headquarters, charged and later released, police said.