Manhunt under way in New Orleans after 10 inmates escape jail via hole in wall

Ten men broke out of a New Orleans jail in the US on Friday 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 on the lam 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. 

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.

An inside job?

By Friday evening, two more fugitives had been captured. Officials found Robert Moody, 21, in New Orleans thanks to a Crimestoppers tip, according to 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.

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 1am. 

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 8:30am. 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.

'Inexcusable failures'

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.

Another escapee, Corey Boyd, had pled not guilty to a pending second-degree murder charge.

Hutson said the police department was actively working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to search for the fugitives.

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, entered the escapees' images into the system and quickly found two in the French Quarter.

"They were walking openly in the street. They were keeping their heads down and checking over their shoulder,” LaGarde said, adding that the other fugitive walked out of sight of the cameras.

“This represents a complete failure of the most basic responsibilities entrusted to a sheriff or jail administrator,” said Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. He blasted the sheriff’s office for a multi-hour delay in notifying authorities and the public of the escape. “These inexcusable failures have put lives in danger.”

'Beyond unacceptable'

Murrill, the state's attorney general, called the escape “beyond unacceptable" and said local authorities waited too long to inform the public. She said she reached out to surrounding states to alert them about the escape.

New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said her agency has put “a full court effort” to respond to the escape and is working with the FBI and US 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.

New Orleans’ jail has for more than a decade been subject to federal monitoring and a consent decree intended to improve conditions. 

Staff 'stretched thin'

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 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 percent staffed. 

Bianka Brown, chief financial officer of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, said they can't afford a maintenance and service contract to fix problems such as broken doors, lock replacements and other ailing infrastructure.

The jail contained numerous “high security” people convicted of violent offenses who required a “restrictive housing environment that did not exist”, said Jay Mallett, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office chief of corrections. The sheriff’s office was in the process of transferring dozens to more secure locations.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)