A Butler man was caught with suspected drugs, authorities said, after sheriff's deputies found him carrying a large knife in the lobby of the Butler County Government Center in Butler.

Wesley M. Gibson Jr., 41, is charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of marijuana in the incident last week.

Deputies said they were working security around 1:20 p.m. March 4 when Gibson entered the lobby. He was asked to empty his pockets at the X-ray machine and he pulled out a “long knife.”

The knife was seized, authorities said, and the defendant was asked to stop at the side of the walk-through metal detector, where a deputy used a wand detector on him. The device beeped.

Again, Gibson was asked to empty his pockets. He pulled out a box of cigarettes, according to charging documents, and in his hand was a “little red dime bag” with suspected marijuana.

Deputies detained the defendant and they subsequently searched him, documents said, turning up a suspected drug-smoking pipe, three burnt “roaches” of marijuana and one pill and another quarter pill of Suboxone, for which he did not have a prescription.

The contraband was seized and Gibson was released. A preliminary hearing was not immediately scheduled.

He was not charged with carrying the knife because it was not illegal.