NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana authorities captured on Friday one of the 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail six weeks ago and who police say released videos on social media while still on the run.
Antoine Massey, 33, was taken into custody at a residence in New Orleans about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the jail, said New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick.
“He actually walked out of a home peacefully,” Kirkpatrick said. “He peacefully gave up to law enforcement who had surrounded the house.”
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said she had received a tip Friday morning and immediately notified other law enforcement authorities, who arrested Massey by midafternoon.
Louisiana State Police Superintendent Robert Hodges said authorities were still investigating how Massey was able to stay at the residence where he was recaptured.
“It’s pretty obvious over the last six weeks to remain a fugitive that long, he had assistance, he had help,” Hodges said.
Authorities had recently investigated social media posts by a man who identified himself as Massey and earlier this month raided a New Orleans home where they believed the videos were produced but did not find him.
“Great work by all our law enforcement partners who have been working so hard for this outcome,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said after Massey’s capture Friday. “One more to go!”
Authorities are still searching for convicted murderer Derrick Groves. Police previously captured the other eight escapees following the May 16 jailbreak, one of the largest in recent U.S. history. Authorities said the men yanked open a faulty cell door inside the New Orleans jail, squeezed through a hole behind a toilet, scaled a barbed-wire fence and fled into the dark.
The men’s absence wasn’t discovered until a morning headcount, hours after they bolted for freedom. Authorities found a message drawn around the hole the men used to escape: an arrow pointing at the gap and the words “To Easy LoL.”
Officials have pointed to multiple security lapses in the jail, but authorities remain adamant that the men also had likely had help. A maintenance worker at the jail was arrested for allegedly helping the men escape by turning off the water to the toilet where the hole was cut behind. His lawyer says he has denied knowingly aiding them.
Massey faced charges of rape, kidnapping, domestic violence involving strangulation and violation of a protective order, authorities in nearby St. Tammany Parish said. In Orleans Parish, he faced charges of motor vehicle theft and domestic battery.
Murrill said Massey will face additional charges for his role in the escape.
A woman police identified as being in an on-again, off-again relationship with Massey was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and as a principal to aggravated escape, court records show. Authorities said the woman knew of Massey’s escape plans beforehand, communicated with him afterward and misled authorities.
A $50,000 reward remains for tips leading to Groves’ recapture, authorities said.
___
Mustian reported from Miami.
___
Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.