BY BRENDAN GIBBONS
Times-Shamrock Writer

Two men wanted for alleged synthetic marijuana possession were arrested Friday after leading police on a cross-county chase.

Around 11 a.m. Friday, a Forest City patrolman recognized David Earl Stoll, 22, Greenfield Twp., and Craig William Hospodor, 22, Springville Twp., driving in the borough, Forest City Assistant Chief Lee Rowan said.

Both were wanted for possession of synthetic marijuana, or spice, and related counts stemming from an Oct. 12 traffic stop by Carbondale police.

Before that stop, Carbondale Patrolman Bill Wolfe said he watched a white Mitsubishi run a stop sign at Enterprise Drive and Morse Avenue in Fell Twp. Inside were Stoll, Hospodor, 22-year-old Kelli Orbin of Carbondale and an unnamed juvenile, according to Patrolman Wolfe’s report of the incident.

After finding no license on Stoll, the driver, or registration and proof of insurance with Orbin, the owner, Patrolman Wolfe asked to search the vehicle. Orbin consented, the report states.

He and another officer soon found 55 packets of synthetic marijuana in a black bag under Orbin’s seat, labeled with names such as iBlown, Smacked! and Geeked Up. They also found packs of spice and a metal pipe with burnt residue on Hospodor.

Police had the vehicle impounded and took the synthetic marijuana to a lab for testing. When results came back positive in February, Magisterial District Judge Sean McGraw issued a warrant for the three.

Carbondale police arrested Orbin on March 8. Hospodor and Stoll were at large until Friday, when the Forest City patrolman spotted Stoll driving a black Saturn sedan. When the officer approached him, Stoll fled east with the officer in pursuit, Assistant Chief Rowan said.

The officer stopped at the Wayne County line, and several local fire and ambulance workers continued the chase, according to a state police news release.

Stoll stopped the car at a garage in Waymart, then ran into the Gravity Inn Motel. Two troopers entered and found Stoll and Hospodor inside with “a large amount of synthetic marijuana.”

Both were booked into Wayne County Prison without bail. They await transfer to Lackawanna County, Patrolman Wolfe said.

All face charges of possession with intent to deliver and related counts. Forest City police intend to file charges for eluding arrest, Assistant Chief Rowan said.