<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ten men broke out of a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="_blank" title="New Orleans"><span>New Orleans</span></a><span> jail in an audacious overnight escape by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall while the lone guard assigned to their cell pod was away getting food, US authorities said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Eight of the escapees, which include suspects charged with murder, remain on the lam following the Friday breakout that the local sheriff says may have been aided by members within the department.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Surveillance footage, shared with media during a press conference, showed the escapees sprinting out of the facility — some wearing orange clothing and others in white. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/oscar-jenkins-australian-sentenced-to-13-years-in-russian-prison-for-fighting-in-ukraine/d18e4c72-5592-41ac-a79a-0b5766449b3a"><strong><span>Australian man sentenced to 13 years in Russian prison</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They scaled a fence, using blankets to avoid being cut by barbed wire, and then some could be seen sprinting across the nearby interstate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A photograph obtained by The Associated Press from law enforcement shows the opening behind a toilet in a cell that the men escaped through. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Above the hole are scrawled messages that include "To Easy LoL" with an arrow pointing at the gap.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/new-orleans-jailbreak-ten-inmates-escape-from-us-jail-through-hole-in-cell-wall/b17f6c1e-81de-4e96-999f-b7790df0f00e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The absence of the 10 men, who also utilised facility deficiencies that officials have long complained about in their escape, went unnoticed for hours. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was not until a routine morning headcount, more than seven hours after the men fled the facility, that law enforcement learned of the escape.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials from the sheriff's office say there was no deputy physically at the pod, where the fugitives had been held. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There was a technician, a civilian who was there to observe the pod, but she had stepped away to get food, they said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Soon after the escape, one of the men, Kendall Myles, 20, was apprehended after a brief foot chase through the French Quarter. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had previously </span><a href="https://www.nola.com/news/courts/case-dismissed-against-bridge-city-youth-who-shot-uptown-man/article_46e24550-a3ea-11ed-b533-afb6a4058d70.html"><span>escaped twice</span></a><span> from juvenile detention centres.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By Friday evening, another fugitive, Robert Moody, had been captured, according to Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials did not immediately provide details on his capture.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Sheriff blames 'defective locks' and possibly inside help</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of the Orleans Justice Centre because of "defective locks". </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hutson said she has continuously raised concerns about the locks to officials and, as recently as this week, advocated for money to fix the ailing infrastructure.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hutson said there are indications that people inside her department helped the fugitives escape.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help," she said of the jail, where she says 1400 people are being held.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The escapees yanked open a door to enter the cell with the hole around 1am.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They shed their jail uniforms once out of the facility, and it is still unclear how some of them obtained regular clothing so quickly, officials said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities did not notice the men were missing until 8.30am.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities initially said 11 had escaped, but at a Friday afternoon news conference said one man thought to have escaped was in a different cell.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Three employees have been placed on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was not immediately clear whether any of the employees were suspected of helping with the escape. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials also didn't say if the guard who left to get food was among the three suspended.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Who are the fugitives?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The escapees range from 19 years old to 42. Most of the men are in their 20s.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the fugitives, Derrick Groves, was convicted on two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder last year for his role in the 2018 Mardi Gras Day shootings of two men. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He also faces a charge of battery against a correctional facility employee, court records show. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Law enforcement warned that he may attempt to locate witnesses in the murder trial.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Another escapee, Corey Boyd, had pleaded not guilty to a pending second-degree murder charge.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hutson said the police department is actively working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to search for the fugitives.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police relied on facial recognition technology to identify and capture one fugitive, said Bryan LaGarde, executive director of Project NOLA, a nonprofit operating more than 5000 cameras around New Orleans. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His organisation, which partners with Louisiana authorities, entered the escapees' images into the system and quickly found two in the French Quarter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They were walking openly in the street. They were keeping their heads down and checking over their shoulder." </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>LaGarde said, adding that the other fugitive walked out of sight of the cameras.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>State and local officials blast jail authorities</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This represents a complete failure of the most basic responsibilities entrusted to a sheriff or jail administrator," said Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He blasted the sheriff's office for a multi-hour delay in notifying authorities and the public of the escape. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These inexcusable failures have put lives in danger."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Williams said that some of the escaped men "have a history of witness intimidation of citizens who were brave enough to speak up".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the escape "beyond unacceptable" and said local authorities waited too long to inform the public.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said she reached out to surrounding states to alert them about the escape, saying they have had plenty of time to get to "frankly anywhere across the country."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said her agency has put "a full court effort" to respond to the escape and is working with the FBI and US marshals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officers were focused on identifying and providing protection for people who may have testified in their cases or may be in danger. One family has been "removed" from their home, Kirkpatrick said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If there is anyone helping or harbouring these escapees, you will be charged," Kirkpatrick added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Turmoil at New Orleans' jail</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>New Orleans' jail has for more than a decade been subject to federal monitoring and a consent decree intended to improve conditions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Security problems and violence persisted even after the city opened the Orleans Justice Centre in 2015, replacing the decaying Orleans Parish Prison, which had seen its own string of escapes and dozens of in-custody deaths.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A federal judge declared in 2013 that the lockup had festered into an unconstitutional setting for people incarcerated there.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said staff is "stretched thin" at the facility, which is around 60 per cent staffed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bianka Brown, chief financial officer of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, said they can't afford a maintenance and service contract to fix problems such as broken doors, lock replacements and other ailing infrastructure.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jail contained numerous "high security" people convicted of violent offenses who required a "restrictive housing environment that did not exist," Jay Mallett, Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office chief of Corrections, said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sheriff's office was in the process of transferring dozens to more secure locations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em></em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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