Louisiana authorities on Friday captured one of the 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail six weeks earlier – 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 (3km) from the jail, said the New Orleans police department superintendent, Anne Kirkpatrick. That left one of the 10 escapees still at large.
“He actually walked out of a home peacefully,” Kirkpatrick said of Massey. “He peacefully gave up to law enforcement who had surrounded the house.”
The Orleans parish sheriff, Susan Hutson, said she had received a tip on Friday morning and immediately notified other law enforcement authorities, who arrested Massey by midafternoon.
The 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 in June raided a New Orleans home where they believed the videos were produced. But they did not find him.
“Great work by all our law enforcement partners who have been working so hard for this outcome,” Louisiana’s attorney general, Liz Murrill, said after Massey’s capture on Friday. “One more to go!”
Authorities are still searching for convicted murderer Derrick Groves. Police previously captured the other eight escapees following the 16 May jailbreak, one of the largest in recent US 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 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.
On his social media videos, Massey pleaded with Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian and rappers to help him.
A $50,000 reward remains for tips leading to Groves’ recapture, authorities said.
