LIBERTY — A Hubbard man pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday after being arrested on a drug-related charge by Liberty police on Belmont Avenue Saturday afternoon.

Lon Schell, 49, of Hubbard, was charged with drug paraphernalia and expired registration.

According to the police report, an officer was on patrol in the area of Belmont and Belgrade avenues when he noticed a white Jeep Renegade bearing Pennsylvania registration heading southbound. The officer performed a registration check of the vehicle and it was discovered that the vehicle’s registration was expired as of Sept. 30, 2024, which led to the officer immediately pulling the vehicle over after a red light.

Schell, who explained to the officer that he was a DoorDash driver, asked if he “wasn’t allowed to go straight there,” to which the officer asked “where” in confusion. The officer also noticed Schell was checking every compartment near the driver’s seat in a “nervous panic,” reaching into the middle console area and using his back to shield the officer’s view.

The report states the officer asked Schell several times about whether there was anything illegal in his vehicle, which he denied. However, Schell refused to let the officer search it because his kids use his car.

The officer explained to Schell that the vehicle was going to be searched anyway because it was to be towed because of its expired registration, and Schell eventually admitted to the possibility of a marijuana pipe and marijuana, saying that he was nervous because he was working while smoking marijuana.

The officer eventually came across a sandwich bag containing a brownish-tan powdery substance associated with heroin while searching and taking an inventory of the vehicle, also coming across a lottery ticket folded into a bindle containing a white rock-like substance associated with cocaine and a metal crack pipe, the report states.

Schell initially denied using heroin, but admitted to doing so when questioned again.

Schell was told he wasn’t to be charged for the suspected narcotics at the time, but positive test results after being inspected in a lab would result in being charged with two counts of felony possession of drugs.

Schell’s bail was set at $5,000 and he’s set to appear back in Girard Municipal Court for a pre-trial hearing Feb. 19, court records show.