A man was arrested after authorities say he tossed cigarettes to an inmate work crew putting up flags on an Alabama road on the Fourth of July.

Michael Brown, 39, of Centre, Ala., was booked into the Cherokee County Jail Thursday on charges of promoting prison contraband and drunk driving.

“He said, ‘I know they can’t have tobacco in the jail, but it is the Fourth of July,’’’ said Cpl. Nick Vaughn of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Birmingham News. “Apparently he thought it would be a good idea.”

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The inmates are tasked with putting up the American flags along Highway 411 between Centre and Leesburg to celebrate the Fourth of July and other major holidays.

Brown is accused of tossing the cigarettes to the inmates as he passed them in his car, the paper reported.

Vaughn deemed him intoxicated after conducting a traffic stop, according to the paper.

Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said: ““We do everything we can to keep contraband out of the jail. We don’t need the public throwing it to them.”

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Brown was released Friday after a night in jail on a $1,000 bond, online records show.