NEW ORLEANS (AP) — On Monday, authorities announced the re-arrest of three more of the ten inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail earlier this month. The men had been on the run for over a week following their audacious jailbreak on May 16. Local police apprehended one of the escapees, Lenton Vanburen, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald were arrested in Walker County, Texas, by local officials.
Louisiana State Police reported the arrests via a post on the platform X, highlighting that two additional inmates remain at large. No further details regarding the circumstances of the arrests were immediately disclosed.
The escape occurred under dramatic circumstances, as the inmates managed to break out of the facility through a series of security lapses. They pried open a faulty cell door, navigated through a hole behind a toilet, scaled a barbed-wire fence, and vanished into the night. The jailbreak went unnoticed until a routine morning headcount revealed their absence hours later. Graffiti left behind included a message reading “To Easy LoL,” pointing towards the escape gap.
City and state officials have cited numerous security failings at the jail in light of this incident. Following the escape, authorities named the inmates who had been recaptured: Lenton Vanburen, Leo Tate, and Jermaine Donald. Previously, Dkenan Dennis, Corey Boyd, Gary C. Price, Kendell Myles, and Robert Moody were also taken into custody. All the inmates had been housed in the New Orleans jail while awaiting trials or sentences for serious violent crimes, including murder.
In the aftermath of the escape, a jail maintenance worker was arrested on allegations of aiding the inmates by turning off the water supply to the toilet, a critical act that enabled their escape. The worker claimed he was threatened by one of the inmates if he refused to comply.
Additionally, four other individuals have been arrested for allegedly assisting the escapees while they were still free. Authorities are continuing their search efforts as they work to apprehend the remaining fugitives from this major prison breakout.
The recent events have raised significant concerns about security measures within the New Orleans jail system, prompting calls for reviews and potential reforms to prevent such incidents in the future.
