TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Authorities are searching for an inmate who escaped from a work squad project near Tampa.

Jerrod "Hot Rod" Williams walked away from a Department of Transportation project Thursday afternoon. The 21-year-old was serving a seven-year prison sentence for burglary and theft charges.

Corrections department spokeswoman Gretl Pressinger says Williams was in town from Hardee Work Camp. She says it's not uncommon for a minimum security inmate such as Williams to be assigned to a work camp.