By Robbyn Mitchell, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, August 19, 2010
TAMPA — An inmate one year into his seven-year sentence walked away from a work squad on Thursday, according to the Department of Corrections.
Jerrod "Hot Rod" Williams, 21, of Tampa, went missing just before 5 p.m. from a Department of Transportation project near Leslie Road, between Tampa and Brandon.
He was in town from the Hardee Work Camp, said Gretl Pressinger, a spokeswoman for the corrections department.
Williams was sentenced to seven years in prison in June 2009 on burglary and theft charges. Four canine units as well as Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies were searching for him Thursday night.
Pressinger said it is not uncommon for a minimum security inmate such as Williams to be assigned to a work camp.