Authorities arrest fugitive who police say posted on social media following New Orleans jailbreak
The ninth fugitive who authorities say escaped from a New Orleans jail last month has been captured after a six-week pursuit, while the final escapee is still at large.
Antoine Massey, 33, was taken into custody at a residence in New Orleans about two miles 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.”
Pictures showing the moment Massey was arrested were shared on social media by Louisiana State Police.
Authorities, meanwhile, are still searching for convicted murderer Derrick Groves.
“One more to go!” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said after Massey’s capture Friday.
Authorities received a tip-off about Massey Friday morning and notified other law enforcement, who arrested him 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.
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.
Massey was posting videos on social media while on the run, police said.
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.
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.
Their 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.
A $50,000 reward remains for tips leading to Groves’ recapture, authorities said.
Jared Lamb, a Louisiana principal and internet personality, recently revealed in a video posted to social media that Groves was a former student.
Lamb said text of the video: “When the internet thinks you’re some bougie private school principal. But Derrick Groves was your former student.”
He put an asterisk and wrote: “The most wanted of the New Orleans prison escapees,” to clarify who he was talking about.
The principal captioned the video: “Where yat, Derrick?”
