NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ten men broke out of a New Orleans jail Friday in an audacious overnight escape by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall, setting off an urgent manhunt to arrest the fugitives.
Nine of the fugitives, which include suspects charged with murder, remain on the lam following the breakout that the local sheriff says may have been aided by members within the department.
A photograph obtained by The Associated Press from law enforcement shows the opening behind a toilet in a cell that the men escaped through. Above the hole are scrawled messages that include “To Easy LoL” with an arrow pointing at the gap.
The absence of the 10 men, who also utilized facility deficiencies that officials have long complained about in their escape, went unnoticed for hours. 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.
Soon after, one of the fugitives was apprehended after a brief foot chase through the French Quarter.
