NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans jail maintenance worker has been arrested after admitting he turned water off to a toilet covering a hole in a cell wall, allowing 10 men to squeeze through the gap and escape the facility.
The inmates, six of whom remain on the lam, pulled off the daring escape from the Orleans Justice Center early Friday by yanking open a faulty cell door, moving the toilet and slithering through the hole. Graffiti on the wall included the message “To Easy LoL,” with an arrow pointing to the gap.
Officials have underscored multiple security lapses in the escape, including ineffective cell locks and that the inmates escaped when the lone guard monitoring them went to get food. During a tense New Orleans City Council meeting on Tuesday, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who oversees the jail, said she “takes full accountability" for the escape.
The absence of the inmates, many charged with or convicted of violent offenses such as murder, was not reported to law enforcement for hours. Four have since been apprehended and six remain at large.
“There were procedural failures and missed notifications, but there were also intentional wrongdoings —- this was a coordinated effort aided by individuals inside our own agency who made the choice to break the law,” Hutson said. “We are continuing to pursue everyone involved.”
Councilmember Oliver Thomas asked if it was possible inmates could be left unattended again.
Hutson said she “cannot guarantee” it wouldn’t happen again, noting the jail is operating with 60% staffing capacity.
Arrested staffer says inmate threatened to stab him
Hutson said the inmates escaped by removing a sink-toilet combination unit from a cell, then cutting steel bars behind the cell room sink. After bending the bars they slipped out. It's unclear what they used to saw through the bars.
Authorities believe sheriff's employees may have helped the fugitives, and three have been suspended. On Tuesday, authorities made their first staff arrest.
Maintenance worker, Sterling Williams, 33, admitted to law enforcement that one of the escapees “advised him to turn the water off in the cell” before the men slipped away through the hole in the wall, the Louisiana Attorney General’s office said in a statement.
In an arrest affidavit, Williams said one of the inmates who escaped had threatened to “shank” him if he did not turn off the water. Another inmate tried to take Williams' phone and attempted to get him to bring a book with cash app information.
Authorities say by turning off the water, Williams “willfully and maliciously assisted with the escape.”
“If the inmates removed the sink in the cell and disconnected the rest of the plumbing with the water still on, the plan to escape would not have been successful and potentially flooded the cell, drawing attention to their actions,” the affidavit says.
Williams is charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and malfeasance in office. The Associated Press was unable to immediately locate Williams' attorney.
Jail employees suspended
Hutson has said she believes the jail break was an inside job and last week told reporters her agency had suspended three employees pending an investigation. It is unclear if Williams was among them.
“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said.
After meeting with Hutson, a judge and law enforcement officials on Monday, Attorney General Liz Murrill told reporters the sheriff was “devastated” by the escape and that her own employees may have been involved.
“I think the sheriff wants to know who she can trust in her prison, and so do we," Murrill said.
Delays and ongoing security concerns
Officials also point to security lapses before, during and after the jailbreak.
On Tuesday, New Orleans officials grilled the sheriff's office about why there was an hourslong delay in notifying law enforcement of the escape.
While a head count of inmates normally starts around 6:30 a.m. and takes less than an hour, sheriff’s officials said they were still verifying whether inmates had escaped more than two hours later. Jeworski “Jay” Mallet, the jail’s Chief of Corrections, said their inability to verify the escape led to the delay.
City and state police did not find out about the escape until around 10:30 a.m., more than nine hours later. The New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told the council that she learned of the outbreak indirectly.
Local police should have been notified immediately because they have “exponentially vaster” resources to track down the inmates, Councilmember J.P. Morrell said.
“There were failures, failures in our personnel,” Hutson said.
A growing number of state and local officials have said blame for the escape rests squarely on Hutson for failing her responsibility to keep inmates locked up.
“As sheriff I take fully accountability for this failure,” Hutson told the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday. “Our community deserves answers and more importantly it deserves action.”
