WASHINGTON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- A man with a tattoo of a gun on his face was arrested in southern U.S. state South Carolina and charged with illegally possessing a gun, police said Friday.

Michael Vines, who is federally prohibited from possessing a firearm, allegedly tried tossing away a loaded .38-caliber revolver after a recent car accident, Greenville Police Department said on its Facebook page.

Vines was spotted by firefighters responding to the scene, who alerted police.

The police recovered the weapon and charged Vines with unlawfully carrying a firearm in addition to driving under a suspended license and driving too fast for the current conditions, said an ABC News report.