9th fugitive arrested 6 weeks after mass jailbreak in New Orleans; police persuade last fugitive to surrender

A month and a half after the mass escape from the New Orleans County Jail in Louisiana, the ninth fugitive was captured, and one is still at large.

The mass escape occurred late at night on May 16, when 11 prisoners escaped by cutting the limestone on the wall behind the toilet with an electric hair clipper. One was caught on the spot, and the remaining ten escaped. New Orleans police said on the 27th that they had arrested the ninth fugitive, Antoine Massey, and only the last one, Derrick Groves, is still at large.

According to reports, 33-year-old Massey was recently imprisoned for car theft and domestic violence, and was arrested in a rental house in the Hollygrove community, only about 2 miles away from the prison. New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said Massey calmly walked out of the house and surrendered to the law enforcement officers who surrounded the house. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Robert Hodges said authorities are still investigating how Massie stayed at the residence. “It’s clear that he has been on the run for the past six weeks and someone has assisted or helped him.” According to a post by Louisiana police on Facebook, Massie was airlifted to “a secure state facility outside the area” after his arrest.

Previously, a man claiming to be Massie posted a video on social media, claiming that he was innocent; police raided a home in New Orleans in early June, believing that the aforementioned video was shot there, but ultimately did not find Massie. In the video, the man claiming to be Massie asked rapper Lil Wayne for help and showed a document to the camera, claiming to be a stamped affidavit that could prove his innocence, saying that his ex-girlfriend withdrew her domestic violence allegations in the affidavit.

Massey has a long criminal record, including charges of rape, kidnapping, and violation of protection orders. He also has a record of escaping from prison. It was reported that he was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of armed robbery and felony assault, and later escaped from a juvenile detention center in New Orleans.

As for the last person on the run, Groves, who was charged with murder, Kirpatrick shouted at a press conference on the 27th: “We will catch you, you will be detained, but you can still choose to surrender peacefully, and we urge you to do so.” Groves was convicted of killing two people in October 2018 and is now offering a reward of 50,000 yuan.