MURFREESBORO – A routine traffic stop in Murfreesboro over the weekend turned out to be not-so-routine due to an officer being alert.

According to Murfreesboro Police Chief Darrell Rowe, Lawson N. Worrell, 20, of Boykins, VA, was stopped about 9:52 p.m. Sunday when he failed to heed a stop sign and was pulled over by Murfreesboro Police Officer William Barmer.

As he approached Worrell’s stopped vehicle, Barmer, whose father, Jimmy Barmer, is a former Aulander Police Chief, smelled what he thought was marijuana.

Conducting a search, Barmer found marijuana in three different locations inside the vehicle. The total weight of the marijuana found, Rowe said, was 44 grams.

Worrell was placed under arrest and charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver, and with maintaining a vehicle to store marijuana, both felonies, and with possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Worrell was processed and appeared before a magistrate who set bond at $20,000 secured.

Worrell was then transferred to the Hertford County Jail.

“This is indicative,” Chief Rowe said, “of how a relatively small infraction of the law can lead to a much bigger arrest. I want to praise Officer Barmer for his good work on this case.”