NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ten men broke out of a New Orleans jail Friday in an audacious overnight escape by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall, setting off an urgent manhunt to arrest the fugitives.
Nine of the escapees, which include suspects charged with murder, remain on the lam following the breakout that the local sheriff says may have been aided by members within the department.
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.
The absence of the 10 men, who also utilized 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 after the men fled the facility, that law enforcement learned of the escape.
Soon after, one of the fugitives, Kendall Myles, 20, was apprehended after a brief foot chase through the French Quarter. He had previously escaped twice from juvenile detention centers.
Sheriff blames ‘defective locks’ and possibly 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.
“We do acknowledge there is no way people can get out of this facility without there being some type of lapse in security,” Hutson said of the jail, where she says 1,400 people are being held. “It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help.”
Hutson said the 10 men “breached” a wall behind a toilet around 1 a.m. and that surveillance footage shows the men exiting through a loading dock door, scaling a wall and running across an interstate.
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.
Who are the fugitives?
The escapees range from 19 years old 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. In a press release, law enforcement warned that the fugitive may attempt to locate witnesses in the murder trial.
Another escapee, Corey Boyd, had pled not guilty to a pending second-degree murder charge.
Hutson said the police department is actively working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to search for the fugitives.
Investigators are focusing on an opening inside a cell through which at least one escapee is believed to have broke out into a maintenance corridor, according to one current and one former law enforcement official who were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
“That’s how they escaped,” the current official said, adding investigators were reviewing surveillance footage that captured the jailbreak.
A former law enforcement official who worked in the jail for several years said such a small square opening would typically be covered by a sink and toilet that may have been removed in this case.
Officials use facial recognition to find one fugitive
Police relied on facial recognition technology to identify and capture one fugitive, said Bryan LaGarde, executive director of Project NOLA, a nonprofit operating more than 5,000 cameras around New Orleans. His organization, which partners with Louisiana authorities, received the list of escapees and entered their images into the system — finding two within the French Quarter in minutes.
“When we saw them, they were wearing street clothes. They were walking openly in the street. They were keeping their heads down and checking over their shoulder.” LaGarde said, explaining that the other fugitive walked out of sight of the cameras.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the escape “beyond unacceptable" and said local authorities had waited too long to inform the public.
“Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this," Murrill said in an emailed statement. “My office will do whatever it takes to determine how this happened and make sure that it won’t happen again.”
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said her agency has put “a full court effort” to respond to the escape and are working with the FBI and U.S. marshals.
Officers were focused on identifying and providing protection for people who may have testified in their cases or may be in danger. One family has been “removed” from their home, Kirkpatrick said.
“If there is anyone helping or harboring these escapees, you will be charged,” Kirkpatrick added.
Turmoil at New Orleans’ jail
The escape follows years of turmoil surrounding New Orleans’ jail, which for more than a decade has been subject to federal monitoring and a consent decree intended to improve conditions.
Security problems and violence persisted even after the city opened the Orleans Justice Center in 2015, replacing the decaying Orleans Parish Prison, which had seen its own string of escapes and dozens of in-custody deaths.
A federal judge declared in 2013 that the lockup had left an “indelible stain on the community” and festered into an unconstitutional setting for people incarcerated there.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said staff is “stretched thin” at the facility, which is around 60% staffed. She said the facility, which abuts an interstate, is currently holding 1,400 people.
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Associated Press writer Sara Cline contributed to this report.
Jack Brook, Jim Mustian And Sara Cline, The Associated Press
