Alabama inmate escapes, found in Tennessee

Associated Press - November 17, 2009 7:15 PM ET

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama corrections officials say a work release inmate who escaped from the Decatur center has been found in Tennessee but is refusing to sign an extradition waiver.

Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said 26-year-old Josh Hamer was recaptured in Ardmore, Tenn. on Tuesday afternoon and is in the custody of the Giles County Sheriff's Department there.

Hamer was discovered missing around 3:50 a.m. during a bed count early Wednesday.

He was sentenced to 15 years for breaking and entering a vehicle and theft of property. His next parole date is May 2010.

Corbett said the department has started the process to have a judge order that Hamer be extradited back to Alabama.