RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Authorities say a South Dakota prison inmate who walked away from a minimum-security facility is back in custody.
The state Department of Corrections says Phillip Richards left his work release job in Rapid City on Saturday without permission and didn’t return to his housing unit. He was apprehended Monday in Pennington County. Richards is serving time on charges out of Bennett County for ingestion of a controlled substance and eluding a police officer.
Failing to return to custody following an assignment constitutes second-degree escape, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.