FORT LEE — Port Authority police on Thursday arrested a man who brought marijuana to the borough court -- where he was scheduled to appear on charges including marijuana possession, the agency said.

Richard Thompson, 32, of Stamford, Connecticut, showed up at court around 10:20 a.m. with a backpack, according to police spokesman Joe Pentangelo. As part of standard security screenings, officials opened the bag and discovered less than 50 grams of marijuana inside.

They also found two packages of rolling papers and an unrolled cigar wrapper often re-used to smoke marijuana, Pentangelo said.

Port Authority Police Officer Steve Pisciotta arrested Thompson on charges of having marijuana and drug paraphernalia, the spokesman added.

Thompson was apparently no stranger to the Port Authority officer. Pisciotta arrested the accused May 16 at the George Washington Bridge on charges of driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license and having marijuana in his car, police said.

In December, Port Authority police made a similar arrest at the same court when another man was allegedly caught with marijuana after he showed up to answer a different pot possession charge.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

