A Mercer County Jail prisoner who failed to return to the jail Tuesday morning after his work-release job was caught two hours later near his home in Sharon.

Timothy Hassan, 22, of 412 Malleable St., was allowed to leave the jail to work but had to report back after work, Warden Jeff Gill said. Hassan's work assignment was at a business in Masury, he said.

"We allow the work-release inmates a reasonable amount of time to get back," Gill said. "We don't want them to have an accident or anything in a rush to return."

Hassan was supposed to return to Mercer County Jail by 8 a.m. Tuesday. When he didn't show up, police -- including Sharon, Hermitage and Southwest Mercer County Regional -- started looking for him, Gill said.