An officer initially pulled over the 2017 Audi A4 on Lafayette Avenue near Wagaraw Road on Thursday.
But the driver – 20-year-old Carl Alston of Queens -- hit the gas as a rear passenger jumped out, Detective Sgt. Matthew Hoogmoed said.
Immediately arrested was 24-year-old Andre Foster, of Clifton, who the sergeant said was carrying pot.
Members of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and Glen Rock Police Department joined the search for the Audi, which was found abandoned on May Street.
An area resident pointed police toward Passaic County Park, where they caught Alston and Martin Martinez – who, while trying to run, tossed away a bag of marijuana, Hoogmoed said.
Alston gave police a phony name while claiming that he was only 15, the sergeant said.
His fingerprints told otherwise: Alston was wanted for “criminal possession of a forged instrument,” he said.
He also was carrying a stolen credit card, Hoogmoed said.
In the car were a black ski mask and a knife, the sergeant said.
Martinez was charged with obstruction and marijuana possession and released pending a detention hearing in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Foster, meanwhile, was turned over toe Passaic police on a warrant after being charged with possession of marijuana, obstruction of justice, and failure to turn drugs.
Alston, meanwhile, was ordered held in the Passaic County Jail pending extradition to New York and court action on Hawthorne charges of eluding, hindering apprehension, obstruction, giving false information, being a fugitive from justice and fraudulent possession of a credit card.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Paterson and receive free news updates.