NEW ORLEANS – After 10 men escaped from a New Orleans prison by sliding through a hole behind a toilet and expanding the wall, the six continued running Monday, offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the capture of each escape.
On Sunday, the FBI increased its compensation from $5,000 to $10,000 per escape, with Crimestoppers’ compensation increasing from $2,000 to $5,000, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offering $5,000. The latest arrest came late Monday when fourth fugitive, Gary Price, was taken into custody.
FBI special agent Jonathan Trapp said at a press conference that he believes that members of the public may be helping them, and that if they do, they will be arrested for supporting or beating them.
The men range from 19 to 42 years old and face a variety of charges, including aggravated assault, domestic abuse batteries, and murder. Three men were quickly captured and fourth, but a multi-agency task force gathered to wash the area for the remaining fugitives.
What are prison officials saying?
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the man was able to get out of Orleans Judicial Center because of “a flawed rock” and perhaps with the help of people within her department.
“It’s not entirely, it’s almost impossible, but it’s almost impossible for anyone to get out of this facility without help,” she said of the prison where 1,400 people are in custody on Friday.
A few days before the escape, Hutson’s office was seeking money to fix the broken lock and cell door. During the city’s capital improvement plan hearing on May 12, Jeworski “Jay” Mallett, amendment officer at the Orleans Judicial Center, said the prison’s current system was built for “minimum detention type inmates.”
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Mallet went on to say that some of the cell unit’s doors and locks are “operated” to the point that they are not only unsafe, but they can’t even close properly. However, he classified many in prisons as “high security” prisoners awaiting trial for violent crimes, including charges of murder, assault, rape and more.
Surveillance footage shared with the media at the press conference was shown by someone wearing orange clothes and others in white as the escape sprinted out of the facility. They expanded the fence, used blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire, and some sprinted across the interstate into the neighborhood.
escape
Law enforcement photos obtained by the Associated Press show the opening where the man escaped. Above the hole is a scribbled message containing an arrow pointing to the gap, with a “simple lol.”
Friday’s escape has sparked intense scrutiny and criticism. It took sheriff’s officials hours to realize the man had fled. And several of the missing men were charged with violent crimes and despite fleeing to a neighbourhood less than two miles from the city’s famous French quarter, they had more time to warn New Orleans police.
“Someone obviously dropped the ball, but there’s no excuse for this,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Maril said in X.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said he indicted one of the people who fled, but New Orleans news station WWL-TV said he was “angry.”
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “I don’t understand how it was possible to make it happen.”
Why did it take you hours to learn about escape?
According to the sheriff’s office, the escapees had opened the door and entered the hole to enter the hole by about 12:30am.
But it wasn’t until the daily morning personnel that law enforcement learned they were missing more than seven hours later.
Sheriff’s office officials say the pod, where the fugitive was being held, had no aides. There was a civilian employee there, but she was stepping in to get some food, they said.
There appeared to be further delays before New Orleans Police were notified.
“You put some very dangerous people accountable,” Williams told WWL-TV on Friday.
Shortly after the escape, one of the men, Kendall Miles, 20, was arrested in the French quarter after a short leg pursuit.
Three sheriff employees are suspended until the results of the investigation are revealed. It was not immediately clear whether any of the employees were suspected of helping out. Authorities also did not say whether the employees who left to get food have been suspended among the three.
Who was the man who ran away?
Most men are in their 20s. Miles and two other men previously captured, Robert Moody, 21, and Dokentan Dennis, 24, were taken to a state correctional facility outside the New Orleans area by helicopter, Louisiana State Police said Saturday.
The agency said one of the men became hostile during the transfer and demanded that troopers use “spitting.” They did not identify the man.
According to Attorney General Maril, Dennis was charged with armed robbery with carrying a firearm and illegal weapon during a violent crime. Moody was facing a weapon charging, as well as two charges of battery attempts and interference.
Marile said both men face additional charges stemming from the escape.
Derrick Groves, one of the fugitives, was convicted last year on two counts of attempted second-degree murder for his role in the shooting of the two Mardi Gras Day. Another fugitive, Corey Boyd, pleaded not guilty to pending second-degree murder.
There was a problem with the prison before
The Judicial Center opened in 2015 and is a relatively new facility, but it still experiences violence and security issues.
Hatson said the staff is “slimly growing” as the facility has about 60% of staff.
Bianca Brown, chief financial officer of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, said the prison cannot afford maintenance and service contracts to fix issues such as broken doors, lock replacements and other illness infrastructure.
The prisons included many “high security” people who were convicted of violent crimes that demanded “restrictive housing environments that did not exist.” The Sheriff’s Office was in the process of moving dozens of them to safer locations.
Hutson is facing reelection this year, and at least one of her enemies, former interim New Orleans police principal Michelle Woodfolk, demanded that questions be answered about the escape. District Attorney Williams appointed Woodfolk to his office last year.
Noting that the sheriff’s race was beginning, Hutson called the timing of his escape “suspectful.” She did not elaborate.
