A Brookhaven man who escaped detention wanted to see his children, authorities said.

Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said inmate Darreyun J. Pendleton was at Region 8 Crisis Center in Brookhaven when he escaped custody Saturday about 10:30 a.m.

Rushing said Pendleton, 23, who was housed there for temporary treatment, left the locked-down crisis center by climbing over a fence.

“He left because he wanted to see his kids,” he said. “He went over their fence.”

Pendleton surrendered to authorities about 7:50 p.m. that same day.

“He contacted family members about turning himself in and they got him to meet a deputy here in town,” Rushing said.

Pendleton, of 701 Brookwood Drive, was arrested on charges Aug. 7 for failure to appear in court and false pretenses. He’d been indicted by a Lincoln County grand jury in July 2016 for introducing a controlled substance into a correctional facility.

Now he’s facing an additional charge of escape.

Rushing said he doesn’t know if Pendleton got to see his kids while he was on the run.