PRESTONSBURG – The search continues for an inmate who escaped the custody of deputy jailers after being transported from the Floyd County Detention Center to Highlands Regional Medical Center under the premise of experiencing seizures.

Benjamin Sammons, 23, of Cane Fork in Martin, was arrested earlier this month on separate felony charges of two counts of theft by unlawful taking, fleeing or evading police and resisting arrest.

A week ago today, on Friday, July 23, Sammons fled from deputy jailers at Highlands and left on foot in the direction of the Hillbilly Market, said Floyd County Sheriff John K Blackburn.

“We’re still looking for him,” Blackburn said yesterday. “From what I understand, he was taken to the hospital without shackles and just made a run for it. I had several deputies on the scene and we’ve questioned the boy’s grandfather, who said he hadn’t seen him. He seemed to be telling the truth.”

Sammons was scheduled to appear for a pretrial conference in Floyd County court Wednesday but was not present, clerks said yesterday. His name has since been entered into the NCIC system, they said.

Blackburn said Sammons was last seen near the market and that his office and other agencies are still looking for him.

“He resisted when they arrested him on the original charges,” added Blackburn. “They had to Taser him and he tried then to flee.”

Anyone with information has been encouraged to contact the sheriff’s department at (606) 886-6171.