Louisiana authorities arrested a total of a dozen people accused of aiding the 10 men who broke out of a New Orleans jail earlier this month and threatened to prosecute anyone else helping the two who are still at large.
“If anyone else is helping out the remaining two escapees they will also be arrested and prosecuted. We will not tolerate it,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X Monday night.
State police announced Monday they arrested Lenton Vanburen Jr., 26, who was located in Baton Rouge, as well as Leo Tate, 31, and Jermaine Donald, 42, who were both found in Walker County, Texas, bringing the total arrests to eight out of the 10 men who escaped. Antoine T. Massey and Derrick Groves remain on the run.
The 10 men were able to escape Orleans Justice Center by breaching a wall behind a toilet in their housing unit and taking advantage of “defective locks and doors,” according to a press release by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. The escapees left a message above the toilet which read “To [sic] Easy Lol.”
The Louisiana Bureau of Investigation arrested jail worker Sterling Williams, 33, on 10 counts of principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office after authorities say he shut the water off in the cell the night of the escape. Williams told authorities Massey had “threatened to shank him” if he disobeyed.
