Tattoo gun found inside Henrico's County Jail - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

The hallways of Henrico's Jail West were unusually busy tonight. Sheriff's deputies in full gear from head to toe - faces covered were conducting a major search looking for contraband.

They searched individual jail cells - the dayroom, where the inmates hang out together, and the inmates themselves.

"Once these inmates were brought out of the day room they were searched in a corridor, individually one by one, one of the inmates was found with a tattoo gun in his possession," said Chief Deputy Carlos Talley.

The search was initiated when authorities got a tip that an inmate was packing something that resembled a gun. It ended up being a tattoo gun made to use inside the jail.

All it took was an ink pen, a small motor from possibly a hair clipper, and a power cord to make a tattoo gun.

Tattoo guns are not allowed in jail and the inmates are told that coming in.

"Anytime you convert something you use to something other than what it's designed for, its titled as contraband," said Talley.

Authorities say the tattoo gun was made from materials found inside the jail.

"Throughout the week there was incident there was one of our electrical cords was missing we believe this electrical cord may have been the electrical cord that was found with this inmate that was taken from a telephone," said Talley.

Searches like this are conducted about 800 times a year. This time, other than the tattoo gun, we're told no other contraband was found.

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