A Lehighton man has been charged with stealing a motorcycle and being in possession of marijuana.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by police officer Jeff Frace of the Mahoning Township Police Department in the case against Scott Albert Jr.:

At 1:29 p.m. Monday, Albert, 25, stopped at the police station to request information for a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run crash at Walmart on Sunday evening.

Frace asked Albert for identification and his relation to the vehicle, and he said he owned it and provided a Pennsylvania identification card, but not a valid driver’s license, which was troubling as he arrived alone on a silver motorcycle.

Frace went outside and obtained the registration number from the motorcycle, and while Albert was providing a statement, Frace came back inside and ran the registration and VIN number.

The plate was not the plate for the motorcycle, and the VIN number was that of a vehicle reported stolen from State Police at Lehighton.

Albert was then placed under arrest and advised of the issues with the motorcycle.

Albert said he had purchased the vehicle from the last registered owner before the listed owner went to jail, but they had not transferred the paperwork for the vehicle.

The motorcycle was then impounded and a leather jacket left on the handlebars was removed from the handlebars where it was left.

Upon removing the jacket, a strong odor of marijuana was detected coming from inside the jacket.

A search of the jacket incident to arrest, disclosed a bag of a green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana inside the jacket.

When Albert was made aware of the bag, he stated it was “about two-and-a-half ounces of weed.”

The substance weighed about 70 grams, roughly equal to 2½ ounces.

While searching Albert, two counterfeit $20 bills were found in his right left shirt pocket.

Albert faces charges of forgery; receiving stolen property, possession of a small amount of marijuana, proper class of license required; registration and certificate of title required, fraudulent use or removal of a license plate, and operation of vehicle without an official certificate of inspection.

He is currently incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $25,000 straight bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Sept. 30 before District Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek of Lansford.