A Polk County inmate who kidnapped an officer and escaped custody Wednesday was apprehended in St. Petersburg, police said.
Bartow Police and the Polk County Sheriff's Office searched for the inmate, identified as David L. Ross, 42.
Bartow Police said five Department of Corrections prisoners were on a work crew at Mosaic Park just after noon when Ross somehow obtained a knife and overpowered a guard. He took a City of Bartow Utility truck and fled the area, police said.
Ross was arrested in St. Petersburg in the area of 4800 54th Avenue North.
Schools in the Bartow area were temporarily put on a heightened security alert just before 1 p.m., but it was later lifted.
Ross was charged with armed kidnapping, robbery, escape, theft of motor vehicle and assault on a law enforcement officer.