Lee Peters walks away from a supervised inmate work assignment at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center

An inmate walked away from a supervised inmate work assignment at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center in Florence at about 3:25 a.m., Pinal County sheriff's deputies said.

Lee Peters, 18, has been in custody since February and is awaiting sentencing for charges of attempted theft of means of transportation.

Detention staff worked quickly to notify Detention Center command staff and immediately began searching for Peters, deputies said.

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit was deployed and area agencies, including the Florence Police Department, were notified to help locate and apprehend the inmate.

Arizona Department of Corrections also responded with five search teams, which included four K-9 units and two horses.

At about 6:30 a.m., a Florence police officer noticed two men talking in the area of Third and Park streets in Florence, sheriff's investigators said. He immediately approached the men and spoke briefly with them, deputies said. The officer was able to identify one of the men as Shane Reid, whom the officer knew.

Suspecting the other to be Peters, the officer asked the men for their identification, deputies said. Peters offered a fictitious name, deputies said. A sergeant with the Florence Police Department arrived at the scene and confirmed the man was Peters and took him into custody, sheriff's investigators said.

Reid's involvement in the incident is currently under investigation.

"An administrative review of this incident has already been initiated," said Chief Deputy James Kimble. "At the conclusion of this review, we will make any necessary adjustments in policy or procedure in an effort to ensure this type or similar incident does not occur in the future."