New Orleans prison escape: Three prisoners recaptured
Authorities are searching for prisoners who fled from a New Orleans prison after passing through a hole in the wall.
Seven of the 10 inmates who fled from a New Orleans prison through a hole in the wall behind the toilet on May 17, were left as Louisiana officials continued their massive manhunt and wondered if the man had internal help.
Inmates, including those with murder, escaped from Orleans Parish prison around 1am on May 16th. Almost a day later, Kendel Miles, Robert Moody and Dokentan Dennis were taken into custody.
“It’s 3 down 7. We’re not slowing down! Please lock up!” Laundry said in a social media post.
According to Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, the inmate pulled the “flawed” cell door from the truck before tearing the toilet and sink unit off the wall. Security footage showed the man departing through a loading dock, shrinking the wall and driving down the highway, Hutson said.
“These detainees show that they were assisted in escaping individuals within our department,” Hutson said, adding that prison employees saw them escape through surveillance and did not report it.
Authorities are offering rewards of up to $7,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
The seven still large inmates are Corey Boyd, Leotate, Jermaine Donald, Derrick Groves, Renton Van Bren, Antoine T. Massey and Gary C. Price.
Where is the prison?
The inmate fled the Orleans Parish Jail in New Orleans. The prison opened in 1837.
What other major prisoner escapes attracted the attention of the people?
Another famous inmate who attracted the public’s attention at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. The incident included two inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweatt, who escaped the largest security prison on June 6, 2015.
22 days after running, Matt, a career criminal convicted of murdering a former boss in December 1997, was eventually shot by a US customs and border guard.
Sushi, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a sheriff’s deputy, was captured two days after being shot by a New York state trooper. He recovered from his wounds and was then returned to the Clinton facility.
A prison tailor named Joyce Mitchell pleaded guilty to assisting prisoners by smuggling a hacksaw blade of frozen burger meat. The escape caused one prison guard to face related criminal charges, nine officers were stopped and the prison’s top leader was replaced.
Another escape that attracted America’s attention was the escape of three inmates in 2016. Hossein Nayeri, 37; Baktin Duon, 43, from Orange County Men’s Central Prison, California. The three men slashed through a half-inch steel bar, through a pipe tunnel, and rappelled the facility using makeshift ropes from their bed sheets.
The escape of Santos Samuel Fonseca, 21, and 20-year-old Jonathan Salazar from the Monterey County Jail in November 2019 was also highly publicized. The two were suspected murders upon escape, and they were able to leave the prison by drilling holes in the ceiling, passing through a maintenance gap, and opening hatches blocked by construction.
How common is jailbreak?
The frequency of prisoner escapes depends on several factors, Bryce Peterson, a senior research scientist at the Center for Innovation of Justice, told CBS News.
“Escapes are more common than you think and less common,” Peterson said. “Escapes happen every day. You leave people from facilities across the country, several times a day, who always leave minimal custody.”
Meanwhile, Peterson told the outlet that “sensational escapes” of famous prisoners like Danello Cavalcante, a murderer convicted from a Pennsylvania prison in 2023, are “very rare.” The possibility of prisoners fleeing could be attributed to staffing levels and wages at many U.S. detention facilities, he added.
“When you ask any kind of corrections authorities, I think they’ll always say staffing is the issue. They say that in the past few years, that issue has been 10 times worse,” Peterson said according to CBS News.
“General escapes are common,” Mark Blallo, a former assistant assistant at Rikers Island in New York, told Scripps News. In most cases, these inmates “walking away from the minimum security prison,” he added.
Have you had any known maintenance issues at Orleans Parish Prison?
New Orleans Prison is in a “critical need” for repairs and upgrades. In particular, to ensure that the doors and locks work properly, Orleans Parish Sheriff Hutson told CNN. Despite that needs, Houston said the prison remains safe.
“It’s not entirely, it’s almost impossible, but it’s almost impossible for anyone to get out of this facility without help,” she told the PBS facility.
Bianca Brown, chief financial officer of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, told PBS that she doesn’t have enough funds to provide maintenance and service contracts to repair broken doors in the prison, replace locks and address other infrastructure issues.
The facility housed several “high security” prisoners who were convicted of violent crimes requiring “restrictive housing environments that did not exist.” Before he escaped, the sheriff’s office was in the process of moving dozens of places to safer locations, according to the outlet.
Mayor of New Orleans thank law enforcement agencies looking for inmates
New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell took her to social media to thank law enforcement officials as she continued to search for the remaining seven escapes.
“I would like to thank the New Orleans Police Department, a unified commander made up of federal partners, state police.
The city of New Orleans and its police shared a joint statement on May 16, telling residents and visitors to stay vigilant during the manhunt, and according to WDSU, they should say something if they see something.
“Now is a critical time for our community to come together and support in every possible way,” according to the New Orleans-based television station.
What were the prisoners in the prison at first?
By the evening of May 17th, Kendel Miles, Robert Moody and Dokendenis were the only three inmates in custody. The man is jailed for crimes ranging from possession of drugs to attempted murder, according to inmate records from Orleans’ Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Returning to prison, the trio awaits trial for various felony charges, including attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravation, batteries, forced extortion, illegally carried weapons and illegal drug possession crimes, inmate records show.
Miles is charged with attempted second-degree murder. According to inmate records, Moody was tried on a worsening second-degree battery charge, and Dennis is held on $2 million in bonds for armed robbery with a firearm.
At least four of the escaped prisoners have been charged with murder or attempted murder, according to NBC News.
It is unclear what additional charges prisoners may face after they flee.
Contributors: Carissa Waddick and Michael Gloria, USA Today; Reuters
