Quote Quoting uscitizen12
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Thanks for the quick reply! I thought everyone here WAS an attorney? Lol. Was the ticket the legal end to the stop though?
No, not everyone here is an attorney ... and those that are rarely acknowledge themselves as such for purposes they can explain.

Yes, you can be detained for failing to have the required lighting equipment in working order. And, did you receive a written warning - as you first wrote, or, did you receive an actual ticket for the violation?

In any event, the detention was over at that point and you should have been free to go. However! If the officer developed some new reasonable suspicion to detain you beyond the scope of the original stop, and/or then developed sufficient probable cause to support a search of the vehicle, then it would likely be lawful. We have no way of knowing whether the search was based upon probable cause or the officer being a dunderhead. The only ways to try and obtain that answer are through (a) a complaint to the agency alleging an unlawful search, or, consulting an attorney and finding out if there is any hope of suing and prevailing such that at least your attorney's fees are covered. I'm guessing the latter is unlikely so the complaint may be the only viable route to take. But, as I mentioned, attorney consultations tend to be free.