TRENTON — An object hanging from a rearview mirror and an out-of-place seat belt led to the arrest of an 17-year-old resident on Thursday.
An officer spotted the boy’s burgundy Buick traveling east on King Road and noticed the aforementioned conditions as the car passed by.
The boy turned south onto Westfield and east onto Blossom. Because the streets there run in a circle with no outlet, the officer waited to see if the boy would come back out.
About 30 seconds later the officer turned onto Blossom and saw the boy coming toward Westfield. The officer then followed as the car turned south onto Westfield, east onto Strohm and south onto Boxford.
Believing the boy was trying to lose him, the officer turned on his overhead lights and stopped the boy at Boxford and Truwood.
The boy appeared nervous, police said, and tried to say that the seatbelt was loose and hangs down, which is why it looked like it was underneath his arm. The boy then said police made him nervous because one of the car’s headlights was out.
When asked if there was anything illegal, police said the boy initially said no, but eventually produced a marijuana cigarette butt and a pill bottle containing what appeared to be marijuana.
A small amount of cocaine was found inside a plastic bag in a wallet on the center console, and the boy then produced a marijuana pipe from his pocket.
The pill bottle also contained seven morphine pills that the boy said belonged to his mother.
Police then arrested him.