A Spokane Valley police officer concerned about a month-old expired license and non-transferred car title ended up arresting a teenager on marijuana charges Thursday night, the police department announced today.

Officer Nathan Bohanek identified Justin R. Bavuso, 18, as the owner of a Ford Crown Victoria, which had been reported sold in October but did not have a transferred title and had plates that expired in December, police said.

Bohanek learned Bavuso had an expired driver's license, and "the stage was set," according to a news release by Sgt. Dave Reagan. He stopped the car a short while later at Third Avenue and Pines Road and arrested Bavuso, then saw marijuana in the car "in plain view," Reagan said.

Bavuso had a drug scale in the car and $200 in cash, police say. Reagan emphasized in his news release that the cash was in "mostly twenty, ten and five-dollar bills."

Bavuso was booked into jail on a felony marijuana charge and misdemeanor charges of driving while suspended and failure to transfer title.

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