May 19 (UPI) — Authorities in New Orleans are expressing confidence they will apprehend the remaining seven of 10 escaped inmates on the loose as they increase the reward for information on the whereabouts of the fugitives.
“We’re confident at this time that we have actionable intelligence on all seven of these fugitives, and we hope in the coming day — if not the coming hours — that we have them all apprehended,” Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges told reporters Sunday in a press conference.
Ten detainees escaped police custody at the Orleans Parish jail early Friday, sparking a manhunt that has so far led to the recapture of three of them.
A reward was offered for information resulting in any of their arrests, which was increased to $20,000 Sunday, with the FBI doubling its reward to $10,000 per inmate, while both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Crime Stoppers were each increasing their rewards to $5,000 an inmate.
“We need the public’s help and we cannot do it alone,” Hodges said. “More importantly, if you are helping and assisting these fugitives, allowing them to remain uncaptured and not brought to justice, there will be consequences and there may be charges for you.”
Hodges emphasized that the recapture of these inmates occurred within the first 24 hours of their escape due to help from the public. Dkenan Dennis, 24, Kendell Myles, 23, and a 15-year-old male, have been relocated to another Louisiana state facility for their safety and the safety of others, Hodges said.
The seven inmates who remain at large have been identified as Corey Boyd, 19, Derrick Groves, 27, Jermaine Donald, 42, Lenton VanBuren, 26, Antoine Massey, 32, Leo Tate, 31, and Gary Price, 21.
“These are violent criminals and they escaped and they have consequences for their actions,” Hodges said.
FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp told reporters they “strongly believe” the escaped inmates are receiving help to evade capture.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said jail officials discovered the breakout at 8:30 a.m. local Friday during a routine headcount.
It was learned that the detainees were able to exit Thursday night due to “defective locks and doors,” it said.
They next broke through a locked cell door at about 12:23 a.m. Friday before breaching a wall behind a toilet in their housing unit and then exiting the jail through a door at about 1 a.m., scaled a wall and fled across the interstate.
Three staff members have been suspended without pay amid an internal investigation into facility operations and supervision practices in connection to the escape, the sheriff’s office said.
More than 200 officers with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are participating in the manhunt.