A Greene County Detention Center inmate who walked off a work detail Wednesday was taken into custody Thursday in Newport, sheriff's deputies said.

Cody M. Ferguson, 20, of 42 Melody Circle, Afton, was charged with escape from a penal institution. He was scheduled to appear today in General Sessions Court.

A Greeneville Department of Public Works employee called the Greene County Detention Center on Wednesday to report that Ferguson walked away from his work detail.

Initial efforts to locate Ferguson were unsuccessful.

"It was determined that Cody did, in fact, escape from the work crew," a report said.

Investigation traced Ferguson to a friend's house in Newport.

According to the Newport Plain Talk, a report from the Cocke County Sheriff's Office stated that Cocke County Sheriff Armando Fontes and Chief Deputy John Carrell allegedly used an unmarked vehicle to locate Ferguson,

Ferguson was found at 327 Lincoln Ave., Apt. B, in Newport, and was being assisted by Reece Brown to evade law enforcement, the report stated.

When the sheriff and the chief deputy tried to take Ferguson into custody, he fled on foot from officers and was chased through a number of yards in eight blocks of residences before being struck with a taser on his left foot and right hand, and captured.

Ferguson was captured in a back yard off Frog Pond Alley, the report stated.

He was transported back to the Greene County Jail. Charges are pending against Ferguson for fleeing to evade, according to the report.

Ferguson was convicted in November 2012 in Greene County Criminal Court on charges of aggravated burglary, possession of burglary tools, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and driving under the influence.

He was sentenced to a prison term of four years at 30 percent release eligibility, detention center officers said.