New Orleans Escape arrested in Texas, police body cam footage show
Two Escape Jermaine Donald and Leotate were captured in Texas in New Orleans, according to the Huntsville Police Department.
Authorities are investigating whether one of the two inmates is still running after the New Orleans prison escape last month posted a social media video and claimed that the escape was not his idea.
On May 16, a total of 10 inmates fled the Orleans parish prison through a hole in the wall with torn toilets and sinks, officials said. Police then captured eight men, leaving both 32-year-old Antoine Massey and 27-year-old Derrick Groves on a large scale.
According to New Orleans Times Pikaune and local station WVUE, the Instagram video posted on Sunday, June 1st appears to be from Massey. In the video, the man who identified Massey and himself dismissed rumors that he was the mastermind behind the prison break. Nola.com, a website run by Times-Picayune, cited a US aide and another source to confirm that authorities are investigating the video.
“I’m one of those people who got out of Orleans’ Parish prison, who said I had escaped, right?” he said he would go straight to the camera wearing the same facial tattoo as Massey. “They say I broke out. I didn’t break out. I was let go.”
The man in the video also declared his innocence and said he fled the Orleans Parish Jail to avoid being charged with a crime he did not commit, Nola.com reported.
“The reason I left prison is because these people were trying to give me life sentences in both parishes for what I didn’t,” the man said in the video.
The post, which is no longer available as of Monday, June 2nd, was shared on an account named “@_007Chucky,” which is no longer available for search, WVUE reported.
USA Today contacted officials from the US Marshall, the FBI and New Orleans Police Department for comments.
Man refuses statement from arrested prison maintenance worker
The man in the video also said he didn’t believe in Sterling Williams, a 33-year-old prison maintenance worker, nola.com reported. Williams told police one prisoner who threatened to stab him with a homemade knife known as “Shank.” According to Williams’ arrest affidavit.
Wvue reported that the man said in the video that he had not tried to “shank” Williams.
Williams has been arrested in connection with the prison escape and has been accused of being in contact with the escapee along with several other people. He is accused of being the principal of simple escape and misconduct.
Williams is said to have admitted that after one of the prisoners had requested that he put the water in the cells and allowed them to escape after they ripped the toilet and sink.
Sterling Williams’ lawyer Michael Kennedy told USA Today last week that his client had no idea about the escape plan and would only close the water because the toilet was clogged.
Why was Massey in prison?
Massey is charged with domestic abuse, including strangulation. He is also charged with theft of a car, Orleans Parish Records shows.
His arrest warrant in St. Tammany Parish shows he is being sought for domestic abuse, including second rape, two attempts to stolen, strangulation and violation of a battery protection order derived from the November incident.
He hopes along with Groves, who was convicted last October on two counts of two murder charges and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the 2018 Mardi Gras shooting.
The three inmates who fled were recaptured by the end of May 16th on the same day as the escape. A week later, two more were found. Within two weeks, authorities had caught everything except the fields and Massey. Authorities are offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to either arrest.
Contributions: Jonathan Limehouse, John Bacon, Tao Nuguen, Jorge L. Ortiz, and Nder Yancey Bragg, USA TODAY
