After a prison escape late last week in New Orleans that one fed-up lawmaker said resembled scenes from “The Shawshank Redemption,” authorities said seven of the 10 escapees were still on the loose over the weekend — and one of at-large escapees is a convicted murderer.
The inmates were discovered missing during a routine 8:30 a.m. Friday head count at the Orleans Parish Jail, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office told CBS News, adding that they were believed to have escaped sometime just after midnight. They all were considered “armed and dangerous” — and likely had help from the inside, the news network added.
‘This is something out of the “Shawshank Redemption” film, though the escapees are no Andy Dufresne or Red Redding but are dangerous men who pose a serious risk to the safety of citizens in the New Orleans area.’
Derrick Groves is one of the still-escaped inmates, the sheriff’s office said. He was convicted of murder in a 2018 Mardi Gras shooting, CBS News noted.
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Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick asked the public to notify police if they were victims or witnesses at the escapees’ trials so they could get help, CBS News said.
Sheriff Susan Hutson said the inmates pulled a sliding jail cell door off its track around 12:23 a.m. and left the jail by 1:01 a.m. after breaching a wall behind a toilet, the news network said, adding that the toilet and bolts were removed using toiletry items, although Hutson didn’t specify what the items were.
As with “The Shawshank Redemption,” the escapees had a lengthy head start — in this case, about eight hours.
The inmates also scrawled obscene messages for the guards on the wall behind the toilet, CBS News said, adding that one was misspelled; it reads “to easy, LOL.”
Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
The inmates then descended a wall and ran across an interstate highway, CBS News reported.
The sheriff’s office on Friday night released security video of the escape, starting with the door being yanked of its tracks and ending with inmates seen in the distance sprinting across a freeway.
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In addition to Groves, the other inmates still on the loose were Corey Boyd, Jermaine Donald, Lenton VanBuren, Antoine Massey, Leo Tate, and Gary Price.
Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
Authorities captured Kendell Myles, Robert Moody, and DKenan Dennis.
Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
Image source: Orleans Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana State Police on Saturday said the three captured inmates were taken to a “secure state facility” and “the search remains active with multiple agencies working nonstop” to find the remaining seven escapees.
Republican state Rep. Mike Bayham in a statement to Blaze News blasted Sheriff Hutson and the New Orleans criminal justice system:
This is something out of the “Shawshank Redemption” film, though the escapees are no Andy Dufresne or Red Redding but are dangerous men who pose a serious risk to the safety of citizens in the New Orleans area. The voters of Orleans Parish recently sent a message of no confidence in incumbent Susan Hutson at the ballot box when a 10-year millage renewal for sheriff was only passed by two votes out of over 25,000 ballots cast. Dysfunction in the New Orleans criminal system inevitably spills over to neighboring communities when dangerous violent criminals are able to escape confinement. Representative Jason Hughes and Council President Helena Moreno have rightly asked for a security audit at the jail. Sheriff Hutson has no business seeking re-election this November. New Orleans could do better randomly picking a name out of the phone book than Sheriff Hutson.
What else do we know?
In regard to the delay in discovering the jailbreak, Hutson told CBS News that “you gotta go inside the facility to be able to see; they could have been anywhere. Then we had to first prioritize talking to victims to make sure they were safe.”
Hutson added to the news network that it’s believed the escapees received help from jail staff or deputies.
Kirkpatrick added to CBS News that authorities notified some of the victims of the escapees; several of them are facing murder charges or other violent charges. Police moved one family to safety, Kirkpatrick added to the news network.
Kirkpatrick added to CBS News that the escapees probably had help, and it wasn’t likely that they still were wearing their jumpsuits. Kirpatrick also warned the public that those who harbor or help these escapees “will be charged,” the news network also reported.
The sheriff’s office is laying some of the blame for the escape on the city for not funding prison security upgrades, CBS News said, claiming it has been asking for help for five years. Hutson added that replacing the locks alone at the parish’s prison facilities is estimated to cost $5.2 million, the news network said.
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Prison break, Orleans parish sheriff’s office, Louisiana, Surveillance video, Watch, Inmates on the loose, Republican state rep. mike bayham, Captured, The shawshank redemption, Crime