As the search for fugitives enters its second week and the anniversary weekend begins, fear is increasingly giving rise to frustration, anger and desire for accountability.
New Orleans residents say the sheriff “failed us” after the prison escaped.
Rakisha Catching, a New Orleans resident, lives near the location where one of the 10 prisoners was arrested. She says the sheriff could not protect the city.
- On May 16th, 10 inmates fled the New Orleans prison. This is officially known as the Orleans Judicial Center.
- As of May 23, five out of the 10 escapees remained large, and a massive manhunt ongoing is underway to arrest them.
- With Memorial Day weekend onwards, some residents fear to host traditional holiday events.
- Now their fear and anger is heading towards a demand for accountability.
NEW ORLEANS – About 18 hours after 10 inmates left the prison just a mile away, Rakisha Catchings’ neighbors ran up the wooden stairs of the house she shares with her child.
“The police just got the fugitive,” she recalled her neighbor pointing down the street.
“So close,” replied Catching.
In the week since the May 16th Jailbreak and the resulting Manhunt, the mother of eight remained covered in New Orleans neighborhoods dotted with thread-bearwood framed houses that hang out the threads of a rut shop, corner stores and small churches. She stays mostly inside, five of the 10 escapes, some have been charged or convicted of violent crimes.
But as the search for fugitives continues over Memorial Day weekend, her fears are increasingly changing into frustration, anger and desire for accountability to put her family at risk.
“How did you get this to wake up?” Catching, 44, is a welcome sign hanging on one side as she stood near the front door.
Officers say they believe some of the fugitives are still in the city. With a $20,000 reward for tips leading to arrests, more than 200 law enforcement officials, led by the Louisiana State Police, are trying to help them and them.
On May 22, a third woman was charged with supporting two of the 10 prisoners who fled the prison known as the Orleans Judicial Center, police said. One prison maintenance worker was charged amid several investigations into escape at a prison run by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office
A spokesman for Sheriff Susan Hutson’s office did not respond to requests for comment, but said he previously took “full accountability” for the violation.
In the Catchings neighborhood, where some residents had avoided gatherings this weekend, the escape resurfaced fundamental concerns about prisons facing crime, shortages of personnel and overcrowding.
And it brought new reminders of the city’s history of law enforcement fraud.
In 1996, a corrupt patrol officer was found guilty of ordering the murder of Kim Groves, the grandmother of Escape Derrick Groves, Nola.com reported. Derrick Groves, convicted of second-degree murder last year, has been staying slowly, leading two prosecutors to flee the nation in fear of retaliation.
The Justice Department said last year, New Orleans Police have improved significantly since 2011 when they discovered evidence of fraud and bias, including unconstitutional arrests.
Nearby resident Sidney O’Connor Jr. said he knows the people in prison and doesn’t wonder why they want to run away. He is not worried that the escape will commit a crime.
Others said they hope that prison investigations and reviews, including those carried out by the Louisiana Attorney General, will reveal issues that need to be resolved.
“It wasn’t built right,” said Lawrence Wicker, 82. His son, Ron J. Wicker, 57, smoked a cigar on a bench outside his family’s home, which he owned and lived in since the 1940s.
Right next to him on May 16th, he saw Ron Wicker as an unmarked flood of police cars suddenly descended and captured one of the prisoners who had escaped. Authorities were immediately detaining 21-year-old Robert Moody, who was being held on drug and weapons charges. Wicker didn’t know how long he was hiding there.
“I couldn’t believe he was next to me,” he said.
Not too far away, 34-year-old Lacey Fabaros said she also changed her daily life in the escape and let her child inside. She has since seen police and unmarked law enforcement, but has been uneasy about anyone who appears to follow her on errands.
“I was a bit scared,” she said. “I don’t walk any dogs at night.”
Favaros said the jailbreak was confused as it occurred at a facility that opened in 2015 to replace the aging lockup.
But it also harnessed deeper concerns about the underlying causes that were filling prisons, such as the lack of investment in youth programs. She said the teenagers’ work is harder to get than they were when she was younger.
“Young people do less to protect people from trouble,” she said.
Even if some residents avoid the danger, Catching said she is worried about children in the 9-28 years of age.
And she is waiting for accountability. I was warned for an escape at 8:30am, for reasons such as why it took me a while to discover the escape. She says the sheriff “have to go.”
“They have to put it together. Crime is everywhere,” she said. “But it’s scary to be at your front door.”
These days, catching is not working, so she can take care of her grandchildren. One of her sons, “Katrina’s Baby,” was born in a city that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was about to graduate from high school.
She said that given the manhunt that appears to last until Memorial Day weekend, they would probably go out to eat rather than host a party.
There was no red charcoal barbecue used in front of her house here. For now, she kept still.
