SEVEN DOWN, THREE TO GO

7 of 10 escaped New Orleans inmates captured as reward increases to $10K

 

by Alexx Altman-devilbiss 

TNND

May 19, 2025 

 

NEW ORLEANS -- Seven of the 10 men who escaped a New Orleans jail on Friday by using a hole behind a toilet have been captured, and the reward for their capture has increased.

The FBI is now offering $10,000 per inmate instead of the original $5,000, FBI Special Agent Jonathan Trapp said at a news conference. 

 

This photo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, May 16, 2025, shows an opening inside a cell at the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans. 

 

The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office said it has "taken decisive action" and suspended three staff members without pay "pending the outcome of an internal investigation into facility operations and supervision practices surrounding the escape."

Officials from the sheriff’s office said there was no deputy physically at the pod, where the escaped individuals had been held. They said there was a “technician who was assigned to the housing unit module,” but that they had “stepped away to grab food."

Law enforcement didn't learn about the escape until more than seven hours after the men fled the facility at 1 a.m., authorities said.

The men range in age from 19 to 42 and face a variety of charges including aggravated assault, domestic abuse battery and murder.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson stated during a news conference Friday that the men were able to escape due to "defective locks," which she has continuously raised concerns about.

She added that there are indications that people inside her department helped the fugitives escape.

“We do acknowledge there is no way people can get out of this facility without there being some type of lapse in security,” Hutson said. “It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help.”

A tip from the public led FBI agents to one of the escaped inmates and two others were captured by deputies shortly after.

Surveillance footage, shared with media during a press conference, showed the escapees sprinting out of the facility — some wearing orange clothing and others in white. They proceeded to scale a fence, using blankets to avoid being cut by barbed wire. Some could be seen in the video sprinting across the interstate, avoiding cars.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the escape “beyond unacceptable" and said local authorities had waited too long to inform the public.

“Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this," Murrill said in an emailed statement. “My office will do whatever it takes to determine how this happened and make sure that it won’t happen again.”

Hutson said staff is “stretched thin” at the facility, which is around 60% staffed. She said the facility, which abuts an interstate, is currently holding 1,400 people.