New Orleans officials grilled over 'coordinated' 10-inmate jailbreak

In a fiery Tuesday meeting, the New Orleans City Council grilled the city's top law enforcement officials over Friday's 10-man jailbreak that has sent shock waves across the nation. 

During the first portion of the meeting, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick was questioned by the council, headed by President Jean-Paul Morrell. 

The first bombshell came when Morrell asked Kirkpatrick when the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) became aware of the escape. 

Kirkpatrick told him she was notified by a police captain at around 10:30 a.m., and only verified the captain's claim by looking at media reports about the escape. 

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Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson was later questioned, and took responsibility for the escape as she addressed the council in an opening statement, calling it "unacceptable." 

"As your sheriff, I take full accountability for this failure, and it is my responsibility to make sure it is addressed with urgency and transparency," she said. 

"While our internal investigation continues, and while we must respect the boundaries of an active criminal investigation, I can tell you this: there were procedural failures and missed notifications," said Hutson. "But I can also tell you this: there were intentional wrongdoings. This was a coordinated effort, aided by individuals inside our own agency, who made the choice to break the law."

However, she shifted some of the blame to the county and city of New Orleans, saying that the department hasn't been given adequate resources to run the jail despite what she said were multiple attempts to obtain those resources. 

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After her opening statement came a volley of questions about the timeline of events on Friday morning at the jail. 

On Hutson's right sat Chief of Corrections Jay Mallett. Mallett and Hutson tag-teamed the answers to the council's questions. 

The first question: what was the timeline of the escape? 

Mallett immediately obfuscated, saying he could not reveal certain details given the ongoing investigation, much to the chagrin of Morrell. 

"So [the] timeline being one of the most critical parts of what we've heard from, and you're saying you can't share those things, that they'll jeopardize the investigation?" he asked Mallett. 

He said that at 8:44 a.m., the initial count of inmates from earlier in the morning "didn't clear," and was found to be incorrect. 

He disclosed to Council member Helena Moreno that the count begins routinely at around 6:45 a.m. and ends at about 7:45 a.m., leaving a gap of 46 minutes unaccounted for. 

By 8:57 a.m., he said, a lockdown had been initiated, and it was determined that two inmates were missing. 

However, a full search of the jail by the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office for missing inmates didn't happen until 9:30 a.m., and the U.S. Marshals Service was not notified until after that was completed. 

When Moreno pressed, Mallett couldn't tell the council when exactly it realized that 10 inmates were missing. 

Morrell asked Mallett when NOPD was notified, and Mallett could not tell him, saying there were "missed" steps in the reporting chain. 

"The delay between when your count happened and when the public notification came out is anywhere from two to three hours," Morrell said. "That's a tremendous amount of time that expands the radius of where these people can go and where they could be. There's a substantial breach of public trust when you look at the timeline."

Hutson eventually jumped in and explained that during the frenzy over the potential escape, corrections officers had to account for 1,400 inmates and view more than 90 security cameras. This measure, she said, was taken to be certain that they told outside authorities exactly which inmates were missing in order to ensure authorities weren't searching for people who were still in lockup. 

"You also can't give out false information about who's missing," she said."[If] one person was found elsewhere in the facility, but now law enforcement was looking for them, that would waste resources." 

Maintenance worker arrested for allegedly aiding escapees, says he was threatened

The Orleans Parish Jail maintenance worker arrested in connection with the escape reportedly said he was threatened with violence by the escapees before helping them get loose. 

Sterling Williams, 33, an employee of the sheriff's office, has been charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office, according to a Tuesday morning statement from Attorney General Liz Murrill's office. 

Murrill said Williams turned the water off in the cell the inmates escaped from, and that instead of reporting the inmates, he helped them. 

Williams told police that the escapees threatened to "shank" him if he didn't aid them in their breakout and turn the water off, an arrest affidavit stated.

"By turning off the water to cell 6 bottom in the 1D dorm, Williams willfully and maliciously assisted with the escape of the 10 inmates. With the water being turned off, the inmates were able to successfully make good on their escapes. Williams admitted to agents he committed the acts after he was directed to do so by one of the inmates who escaped, Antoine Massey," the affidavit stated.

According to the affidavit, Williams was seen on a video surveillance camera talking with two of the inmates who escaped. Williams told police that one of the inmates, Derrick Groves, tried to take his phone and get him to "bring a book with cash app information to his cousin in the next pod over."

Click here to read the affidavit.

He also told police that one of the escaped inmates tried to take his phone and "get him to bring a book with cash app information," according to the affidavit.

Murrill said Williams' total bond was set at $1.1 million, $100,000 for each charge he's facing.

"If you are helping any of the escaped inmates in any way, you too will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!" Murrill said.

The sheriff's office did not immediately return a comment request. 

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The release said he was booked into the same jail where he allegedly helped the inmates escape, but that he will be transferred to a different facility.

"This is a continuing investigation, and we will provide updates as often as possible. We will uncover all the facts eventually and anyone who aided and abetted will be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows. I encourage anyone who knows anything, and even those who may have provided assistance, to come forward now to obtain the best possible outcome in their particular case," said Murrill.

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Ten inmates escaped from the prison early Friday morning, and six remain on the run as of midday Tuesday. 

The most recent arrest came on Monday night. 

Gary C. Price, 21, who was in jail awaiting trial on multiple counts of attempted murder, was captured by the Louisiana State Police (LSP). 

LSP said Tuesday morning that Price was arrested in New Orleans East by their detectives and a SWAT team. He was flown by helicopter back to jail. 

However, the escapee considered most dangerous is Derrick Groves, 27, who remains at large. 

He was convicted of killing two men on Mardi Gras in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward in 2018, and was in jail awaiting sentencing. 

According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Groves was indicted federally on nine counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, eight counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, six counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of drug trafficking conspiracy.

Orleans Parish district attorney says he and his prosecutors fear retribution from escapees 

On Monday, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said he and his prosecutors feared retribution from Groves and the other escapees. He said that as soon as he learned of the escape, he notified prosecutors who had tried cases against the suspects and coordinated with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to get them out of town.

"I am personally afraid, not just for myself but for my lawyers who tried the case against the individual twice," Williams said, referring to Groves, during a news conference. 

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Williams reportedly tried Groves twice, and the convicted killer was tried a total of three times in New Orleans. 

He was first convicted and given two life sentences for killing two people on Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 2018. One of the convictions was overturned, leading to a second trial that ended in a mistrial. A third trial saw Groves convicted unanimously. 

"We were asking for a life sentence of this man, and he is now at large," Williams said. "Two of the lawyers who I tried that case with, who successfully went forward and [were] able to get a conviction in that case, these lawyers got out of town this weekend with their families out of fear of retribution."