It shouldn't have happened, but it did and Sheriff Mitchel Newman is hot!

An inmate with a gun inside the jail. It's unthinkable and policies are in place to prevent it from happening, but it did and Jasper County Sheriff Mitchel Newman wants to know how and why. Newman confirmed on Tuesday that an inmate was booked into the Jasper County Jail shortly before 7:00 on Monday evening and a short time later he was found to have a gun in his hand. According to Newman it happened when a patrol officer with the Jasper Police Department brought the suspect to jail after receiving a report that the man was walking down a street making noise and causing a disturbance. Newman said that after the suspect was placed into a holding cell and officers had handed him jail clothing, a handgun was spotted by an officer. Newman said deputies immediately confiscated the weapon and no injuries resulted from the incident. Newman said the gun was not loaded and that no ammunition was found to be in the possession of the suspect. However, he said the important thing was that it could have been a bad situation. Newman said that he and the Interim Chief of the Jasper Police Department, Mike Poindexter, were investigating the incident and taking steps to see that it did not happen again. Poindexter echoed that sentiment on Tuesday saying that an internal investigation was underway to determine what happened. Officers have not released the name of the suspect pending formal arraignment and completion of an investigation into the incident. So far no action has been taken by either agency.