A 39-year-old's minor traffic offence escalated into a serious drug offence last week after he accidentally dropped a bag containing cocaine while sifting through court documents.

CCTV footage from the courtroom shows Cleveland local Lemar Reed unknowingly dropping the small, clear bag of white powder on the ground while opening up a piece of paper he was holding at the Lorain Municipal Court.

Reed was preparing to take the document up to the judge just moments later, so perhaps it's good the bag fell out while he was on the stand rather than right in front of the judge - but regardless, he was soon arrested for possessing the class A drug.

A courtroom security guard noticed the cocaine lying on the floor about an hour later, and after testing what was then an unknown substance and reviewing the footage, they discovered it was cocaine and that the culprit was Reed.

A warrant was put out for his arrest and he was taken into custody not long after his brief court appearance.

"He was only here for a traffic ticket. He made a simple traffic ticket with only the penalty of a fine into a felony. So, not a good day for him," Judge Mihok later said.

Newshub.

