Fugitive in NOLA jail break captured after six weeks on the lam

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Authorities in Louisiana have captured one of the last two remaining fugitives still on the loose after a brazen jailbreak in New Orleans nearly six weeks earlier.

Antoine Massey, 32, was arrested Friday at a home in New Orleans, according to the Louisiana State Police.

He was among ten inmates being held at the New Orleans Justice Center when they broke out of jail on May 16, an escape that wasn’t noticed until more than seven hours later. It prompted a manhunt that spanned multiple states.

Eight of the ten were captured earlier, most in New Orleans and two in Texas. Earlier this month, Massey posted a social media video proclaiming his innocence.

Massey, 33, who stood out for his face tattoos of chess pieces, was in jail on charges of domestic abuse involving strangulation and theft of a motor vehicle. Officials said new charges were forthcoming.

His arrest means that only one escapee, Derrick Groves, remains on the lam. Groves, 27, was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in connection with a shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018.

“Great work by all our law enforcement partners who have been working so hard for this outcome. 1 more to go!” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on social media.

New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick urged Groves to turn himself in. Either way, she said, “You will be taken into custody.”

The escapes, which sent several prosecutors and victims fleeing for safety, raised questions about the jail’s operations and highlighted a facility that the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said was overcrowded and in need of security upgrades.

Sheriff Susan Hutson, whose department operates the jail and has faced intense scrutiny over the escapes, personally received the tip Friday morning that led to the arrest.

“This is a major step forward in our efforts to restore order and accountability after this serious incident,” she said at a news conference in New Orleans.

Authorities had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the fugitives’ arrest.

Massey had been hiding in a home in a New Orleans neighborhood that is less than two miles from the jail. He peacefully gave up when police surrounded it around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, authorities said. Police are still examining who might have been helping him.

The captures come as Louisiana authorities continue to investigate how the men were able to create a hole in a cell wall by ripping out a toilet and to escape without being noticed by guards in the early hours of May 16. Their absences were not discovered until the next morning.

Hutson has said the escapees appeared to have gotten help from the inside. One maintenance worker was already arrested. In addition, she said the jail suffered from underfunding and a shortage of staff. Her critics have blamed mismanagement.

On Friday, she noted that the jail was already working to secure locks and add razor wire and other security measures as part of a larger effort to improve the facility.

The Louisiana State Police said Massey would be transported to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, the state’s oldest and only maximum-security prison.

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