A Carter County man charged in connection with a police pursuit that ended in a motor vehicle crash now faces a new charge after officers say the man managed to get his cellular phone into the jail and posted a picture of himself inside his jail cell to his social media account.

Deputies of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant on Thursday charging Timothy Pippin, 45, 1271 Bluefield Ave., Elizabethton, with the introduction of contraband into a penal facility.

On Wednesday, deputies arrested Pippin following a police pursuit where Pippin struck another vehicle while fleeing from officers. Deputies charged Pippin with reckless endangerment (serious injury or use of a deadly weapon), felony evading arrest by a motor vehicle, second offense driving on a revoked license, and leaving the scene of an accident with injury in connection with that incident. Deputies also served Pippin with several outstanding warrants charging him with three counts of failure to appear out of Criminal Court and two Juvenile Court attachments charging him with contempt of court.

The new charge against Pippin stems from allegations regarding his conduct once he was transported to the Carter County Detention Center to be booked in on the charges from the pursuit and crash.

According to court documents, at around 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, CCSO Deputy Roger Brown brought Pippin into the detention center and turned him over to corrections officers for booking.

“I then took all of Inmate Pippin’s property and x-rayed him,” CCSO Deputy Jessie Hodges said. “While I was dressing Inmate Pippin I stepped out of the cell to grab a bag to secure Inmate Pippin’s smaller property items. During that time Inmate Pippin somehow regained possession of his personal cell phone.”

Hodges said he was alerted to Pippin regaining the cell phone when he received a message from Deputy Amos Halava, who works in the investigation division, alerting jail staff that Pippin had posted a photo of himself to his social media page from inside the Carter County Detention Center.

At that time, Hodges said, he and other officers went to the cell where Pippin was being housed and retrieved the cell phone from him.

Under state law, cell phones and other communications devices are considered contraband inside correctional facilities and inmates found in possession of such items can face a felony criminal charge.

Pippin appeared on Carter County General Sessions Court on Friday before Judge Keith Bowers Jr. During the appearance, Pippin filled out a request for a court appointed attorney and after reviewing the affidavit of indigency, Bowers appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Pippin.

Through his attorney, Pippin waived his right to a preliminary hearing in the cases against him and all of the charges were bound over to the Carter County Grand Jury. He is scheduled to appear in Carter County Criminal Court on March 19, 2018. Following Pippin’s waiver, Bowers sat Pippin’s bond in the case at $5,000. Pippin is still currently being held on several warrants out of Juvenile Court and Criminal Court, one of which orders that he be held without bond in that case.