NEW ORLEANS: Ten men broke out of a New Orleans jail Friday (May 16) in an audacious overnight escape by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall, while the lone guard assigned to their cell pod was away getting food, authorities said.
Seven of the escapees, including suspects charged with murder, remain at large following the breakout that the local sheriff says may have been aided by members within the department.
Surveillance footage, shared with media during a news conference, showed the escapees sprinting out of the facility — some wearing orange clothing and others in white. They scaled a fence, using blankets to avoid being cut by barbed wire, and then some could be seen sprinting across the nearby interstate and into a neighbourhood.
A photograph obtained by The Associated Press from law enforcement shows the opening behind a toilet in a cell that the men escaped through. Above the hole are scrawled messages that include “To Easy LoL” with an arrow pointing at the gap.
ESCAPED WENT UNNOTICED FOR HOURS
The absence of the 10 men, who also utilised facility deficiencies that officials have long complained about in their escape, went unnoticed for hours. It was not until a routine morning headcount, more than seven hours later, that law enforcement learned of the escape.
Officials from the sheriff’s office say no deputy was at the pod where the fugitives had been held. There was a technician, a civilian there to observe the pod, but she had stepped away to get food, they said.
Soon after the escape, one of the men, Kendall Myles, 20, was apprehended after a brief foot chase through the French Quarter. He had previously escaped twice from juvenile detention centres.
By Friday evening, two more fugitives had been captured. Officials found Robert Moody, 21, in New Orleans thanks to a Crimestoppers tip, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. Dkenan Dennis was found near the Chef Menteur Highway, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced on the social platform X.
SHERIFF BLAMES “DEFECTIVE LOCKS” & POSSIBLE INSIDE HELP
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of the Orleans Justice Center because of “defective locks.” Hutson said she has continuously raised concerns about the locks to officials and, as recently as this week, advocated for money to fix the ailing infrastructure.
Hutson said there are indications that people inside her department helped the fugitives escape.
“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said of the jail, where 1,400 people are being held.
The escapees yanked open a door to enter the cell with the hole around 1 a.m.
At least one of the steel bars protecting plumbing fixtures “appeared to have been intentionally cut using a tool,” according to a statement from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office on Friday night.
The men shed their jail uniforms once out of the facility, and it is still unclear how some of them obtained regular clothing so quickly, officials said.
Authorities did not notice the men were missing until 8:30 a.m. Authorities initially said 11 had escaped, but at a Friday afternoon news conference said one man thought to have escaped was in a different cell.
Three employees have been placed on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation. It was not immediately clear whether any of the employees were suspected of helping with the escape. Officials also didn’t say if the guard who left to get food was among the three suspended.
The escapees range in age from 19 to 42. Most of the men are in their 20s.
One of the fugitives, Derrick Groves, was convicted on two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder last year for his role in the 2018 Mardi Gras Day shootings of two men. He also faces a charge of battery against a correctional facility employee, court records show. Law enforcement warned that he may attempt to locate witnesses in the murder trial.
