HERNANDO, Miss. — An inmate who escaped from the DeSoto County courthouse last week walked out in shower shoes and asked a stranger for a ride, the county’s sheriff said Wednesday.

Joshua James Zimmerman has been on the run since just before 8 a.m. Friday. He had an attempted murder charge out of Southaven and a murder charge in Texas, and was scheduled for a hearing when he escaped.

DeSoto County Sheriff Thomas E. Tuggle II said Zimmerman did not change clothes and had no connections to the area.

He left the courthouse in a pair of pajamas and shower shoes, walked across the street, and asked for a ride from a Good Samaritan, telling the man that he had just been in a fight with his wife.

That person, who was headed to Memphis, gave him a ride, Tuggle said.

Tuggle said Zimmerman had a six-minute headstart on deputies. The city was locked down in eight minutes — Zimmerman got away in seven.

Tuggle was not clear in his answer to a question on whether Zimmerman was shackled, just repeating that he was a career criminal who studied how to escape shackles.

Tuggle said Zimmerman has the potential for violence, but stressed that people in DeSoto County were safe. He would not answer whether Zimmerman is believed to be in the area.

“Zimmerman, if you’re out there and you hear this, turn yourself in, because we’re gonna find you, and I promise you we’re gonna put your gluteus maximus in a cell by yourself,” Tuggle said.

There is a $10,000 reward from the U.S. Marshal’s Service for Zimmerman’s arrest. They say he is believed to have shaven his beard since his escape.

“Zimmerman is considered armed and dangerous, do not approach him,” marshals said in a news release. “He has ties to Memphis, Tennessee and Waterbury, Connecticut.”