The ninth of the 10 inmates who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center on May 16 has been recaptured.
Antoine Massey, 33, was grabbed by cops from multiple law enforcement agencies Friday at a residence in the city, Louisiana State Police said in a social media release. He will face additional charges for his role in the escape.
Another post from LSP showed a helicopter airlifting Mr. Massey to a state correctional facility outside the New Orleans area.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair told CNN that Mr. Massey was taken in a “peaceful” manner without further incident. An investigation is ongoing into who, if anyone helped him flee custody and how they did so.
“It’s pretty obvious over the last six weeks, to remain a fugitive that long, he had assistance, he had help. Whether or not it was someone helped him with the Airbnb, we would have to think ‘yes,’ but who (it was) and all those things will be determined later,” LSP Superintendent Robert Hodges said, according to New Orleans’ Times-Picayune.
The 10 inmates escaped after tearing a toilet off a wall, busting open a hole, going through it and and scaling a fence. Eight of the other escapees were captured last month, and only Derrick Groves, 28, remains on the run.
LSP said that at the time of the escape, Mr. Massey was in custody on charges of domestic abuse battery involving strangulation, theft of a motor vehicle and violating the conditions of his parole. Orleans Parish criminal records show that he hasn’t been tried on those charges.
Groves was convicted of two counts each of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder last October, per a release from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office. He was serving time for those crimes when he escaped.
There is a reward for information leading to the arrest of Groves, as there was for the nine others now in custody, LSP said. Crime Stoppers’ offer is $10,000, and the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are each offering $20,000 for a total reward of $50,000.
Mr. Massey was arrested after a tip was sent in, Mr. Fair told CNN.
