By Shavonne Walker
shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

ROCKWELL — The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office has charged a Rockwell man with felony drug possession after he was stopped in a vehicle with just one working headlight.

The deputy noted he seemed nervous and pills were found in the truck.

Joseph Allen Lasley, 31, Sternbridge Drive, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance Schedule II, driving while license revoked, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Rowan Deputy Dalton Miller was on routine patrol just before 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday when he saw a Mazda pickup with one working headlight on Old Beatty Ford Road, near Organ Church Road.

Miller followed the truck until he stopped the driver at on Organ Church Road, near Sternbridge Drive. The driver identified himself as Joseph Lasley.

Lasley told the officer he was coming from Phaniels Church Road, which was not true, since the deputy saw him travel from a different direction.

The driver seemed nervous and shaky, the report said.

When the deputy checked Lasley’s information, he determined his license was revoked. Lasley said he didn’t know his license was revoked. The deputy asked for consent to search the vehicle, which Lasley gave until just before the deputy began the search.

A K-9 was called in to walk around the truck and the dog alerted. Lasley was asked to get out of the truck while deputies searched the pickup.

A deputy found eight white pills with K18 written on them. The pills were oxycodone. The deputies also found an unopened box of suboxone strips in the truck and two cut straws with white powder residue on them.

While Deputy Miller was at the Rowan County Magistrate’s Office, Lasley admitted the pills were his, according to a report.

He was issued a $1,000 secured bond and has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.