COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities say an inmate at a minimum-security prison walked away from his work site in Aiken.

A Corrections Department spokesman said supervisors last saw 37-year-old Thomas Lee Washington about 3:30 p.m. Thursday. He was on a labor crew assignment with the Aiken Housing Authority.

Agency spokesman Josh Gelinas said Washington began serving a five-year sentence last October for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature out of Florence County. He was housed at the Lower Savannah Pre-Release Center in Aiken and was expected to be released in May 2010.

Anyone with information is asked to contact local authorities or the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.