A Texas County Jail inmate faces a felony weapons charge after being found to be in possession Sept. 10 of a lighter in the jail.
Thomas A Carter, 62, of 205 Chestnut St. in Houston, is charged with possession of a weapon at a county jail (a class B felony).
According to a probable cause statement, a jailer was escorting Carter from his cell for release and smelled cigarette smoke, and found a lighter under a mat inside the cell.
The deputy responded to the jail and asked Carter how he got the lighter. Carter told the officer he brought it in the day before when he was arrested on a warrant, and said he had smoked two cigarettes and flushed the butts down a toilet.
According to state law, a lighter inside a jail is considered a weapon or dangerous instrument that could be used to endanger the safety or security of the facility and well-being of inmates and staff.
Carter was kept in jail with a bond on the new charge set at $150,000.