Fifth inmate recaptured after New Orleans jail break; maintenance worker arrested
A fifth inmate was captured on May 20 after last week's New Orleans jail break, Louisiana authorities announced, the same day a maintenance worker was arrested in connection with the case that has sparked a massive manhunt.
Corey Boyd, 19, was taken into custody in New Orleans on May 20, according to Louisiana State Police. Police said Boyd will be transported to a secure state facility outside the area.
Boyd was originally incarcerated at the Orleans Justice Center for second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, aggravated battery, and threatening a public official, state police said in a news release. Following his escape on May 16, Boyd faces an additional charge of simple escape.
Boyd's recapture came on the same day a maintenance worker was arrested in connection to the jail escape. Louisiana’s top cop said the maintenance worker didn’t just help 10 inmates break out — he unleashed “armed and dangerous" fugitives on the community and beyond by extensively colluding with them.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill acknowledged in a Fox News interview that "people are on edge" after the daring May 16 breakout. Jail employee Sterling Williams, 33, has been charged with multiple counts of being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office.
Four other escapees have also been captured, all within New Orleans city limits. The four men are currently being held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, a maximum security facility, according to the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
Murrill said that considering the 8- to 10-hour lead the inmates had before their absence was discovered, some might have reached other states.
“All of them are considered to be armed and dangerous,'' Murrill said. "If you look at the charges they were being held on, they’re all very serious charges. A couple of them have been prosecuted multiple times for murder.’’
Williams admitted to investigators he complied with a demand from one of the inmates to shut off the water to a cell, allowing the escapees to rip out a toilet and sink unit and climb through the hole in the wall that was created, Murrill said in a statement.
The sheriff's office has said the inmates appeared to have used a tool to cut through steel bars behind the toilet and sink fixture. Multiple outlets have reported that they left behind a mocking message on the wall that read: “To Easy LoL.”
Worker may have helped over 'multiple days'
Instead of reporting the inmate's request, Williams complied with it, "allowing the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape," the statement said.
In the arrest affidavit, Williams said one of the inmates threatened to stab him with a "shank" − a homemade knife − if he didn't follow instructions. Authorities said Williams, whose bond was set at $1.1 million, was still at fault for lending his assistance, which, according to Murrill, extended beyond the early morning when the inmates fled.
She pointed out that without his cooperation, the escape attempt would have been detected.
“Obviously, when they cut through these pipes, they would have flooded the cell, and that would have alerted people to a problem. We think it was more than just that night,'' Murrill said. "We believe this person had multiple days of involvement.’’
Five escapees still on the loose
On the fifth day of a hunt to recapture the escapees, five were still on the loose. Three were recaptured by the end of the day on May 16, when they made their escape in the early-morning hours.
The fourth inmate, 21-year-old Gary Price, was taken into custody on May 19 in New Orleans, according to the Louisiana State Police. Price was in jail on charges of murder, domestic abuse, and aggravated assault, and will face new charges for the escape.
"We will not stop until we rid our streets of these criminals," Gov. Jeff Landry said.
Procedural mistakes a factor in jailbreak
The inmates escaped at about 1 a.m. on May 16 after pulling a "defective" cell door off its tracks and tearing away the toilet and sink unit, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said, calling the escape an inside job. Security video captured the inmates fleeing through a loading dock, scaling a wall and running across a nearby highway, she said.
The inmates still at large are Leo Tate, Jermaine Donald, Derrick Groves, Lenton Vanburen and Antoine Massey. Five – Boyd, Price, Kendell Myles, Robert Moody, and Dkenan Dennis – are back in custody.
Like Hutson, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said there were procedural mistakes that contributed to the success of the jailbreak, pointing to where the escapees had been housed.
“The fact these individuals were even on the first floor, you don’t keep the most dangerous people on the first floor,'' Jason Williams said at a May 19 news conference. "They’re supposed to be on the higher floors, right? So there are a number of breakdowns that occurred. And any family member who’s scared or frustrated, they have every right to be, because this should not have happened.’’
Contributing: John Bacon, N'dea Yancey-Bragg, and Thao Nguyen, Paste BN; Reuters