Police are looking for a prisoner who walked away from a work crew at 1 Ashburton Place this morning.

Milton Leon Walker, 39, is described as a black male who is 6 feet tall and weighs about 240 pounds. He likely took off his orange prison jumpsuit, said David Procopio, spokesman with the state police.

Anyone who sees Walker is advised not to approach him but to call 911.

According to the Department of Corrections, Walker asked to use the bathroom just after 9 a.m. and never returned. He was an inmate at the Boston Prereleased Center in Roslindale. His last known address was in Dedham.

Walker was serving up to six years time for auto theft, breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor, and two counts of larceny. He had been sentenced in Salem on July 16 and would have been eligible for parole on Feb. 11, 2013, according to Diane Wiffen, public affairs director for the DOC.

Wiffen could not get into specifics about where police are searching but said that the DOC Fugitive Apprehension Unit and state and local police are looking for Walker.

The DOC will work with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office to pursue criminal charges when Walker is apprehended, she said.

Prisoners selected for work gangs are screened and it’s very uncommon for them to walk away, Wiffen said.