YAKIMA -- An inmate who walked away from the state's West Valley work-release center is back behind bars thanks to help from the Yakima County Violent Crime Task Force.

Billy Eugene Garner, who was convicted in 2007 for vehicular homicide in Spokane, was caught Wednesday in Ritzville after police and sheriff's deputies found him at a motel, task force officials said.

Task force investigators had learned that Garner fled to Ritzville with his brother, according to a news release issued Thursday.

Garner, 49, was serving the last six months of his 41-month sentence on the work-release side of the Ahtanum View Correctional Complex. He had most recently been confined to the prison on the same property on 64th Avenue near Occidental Avenue.

He was given a pass to go to a local store on Saturday, said Maria Peterson, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections.

When he didn't return, an alert was issued to law enforcement agencies.

Instead of being released in November, he is now expected to face felony escape charges.