Wake County detention officer arrested during shift at downtown Raleigh jail

A detention officer at the downtown Raleigh jail was arrested during his shift on charges of providing contraband to inmates.

Rodale Pippen, 31, was charged with giving or selling a cell phone or electronic device to an inmate and conspiracy to provide a cellular device to an inmate, which are felonies, and giving or selling tobacco or a vapor product to an inmate, which is a misdemeanor, according to a news release from the Wake County Sheriff’s Office.

Pippen was arrested after a two-month investigation. The Sheriff’s Office arrested him Tuesday during his shift at the detention facility in the John H. Baker Jr. Public Safety Center on Salisbury Street.

Pippen was fired and booked in the Wake County Detention Center on $27,000 bail.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 9:10 AM.