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The last and most dangerous prisoner involved Viral video of New Orleans jail escape He has been recaptured months after being accused of fleeing with nine others.
Derrick Groves was taken into custody atlantaGeorgia, after evading authorities for nearly five months, U.S. Marshals said Wednesday.
The 28-year-old, who was convicted of murder and was previously facing a possible life sentence jail breakis accused of escaping from the Orleans Parish Jail in May After him and other prisoners One crawled out through a hole behind a toilet, police said.
One of all the accused absconding Groves had one of the most violent criminal records, and authorities offered a $50,000 reward for tips leading to his recapture.
Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Kate Stegall said there was a brief standoff with officers before the arrest.
“He was hiding in the crawl space,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair. “It appears he was alone in this house and was hidden very well.”
Fair said Groves was arrested by the Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Atlanta Police Department SWAT team.
Police had earlier captured nine other accused who escaped after the May 16 jailbreak, one of the largest in recent US history. Officials said the men yanked open the door of a condemned cell inside. new Orleans The prison, squeezed through a hole behind the toilet, crossed the barbed wire fence and escaped into the darkness.
His disappearance was not detected during counting the next morning. Authorities found a message written around the hole they say the men used to escape: an arrow pointing toward the hole and the words “TOO EASY LOL.”
Responding to the news of Groves’ arrest, his mother, Stephanie Groves, said she was “all messed up.”
“I’m just trying to talk to him,” she told The Associated Press. “I’m just seeing it on the Internet, I found out about it on the Internet. It’s just messed up.”
“I’m glad it’s over… Of course he was going to get caught.”
In July, while authorities said Groves was still on the run, nine other fugitives pleaded not guilty to avoid charges.
Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office confirmed that all 10 people have been charged with simple escape, on top of previous criminal cases that initially landed them in jail.
If convicted, the escape charge carries a sentence of two to five years in prison.
Officials have pointed to several security lapses in the prison, but officials are adamant that those inmates may have received help.
A maintenance worker at the prison was arrested for helping prisoners escape by turning off the water in the toilet, from where the fugitives escaped through a hole.
The man, through his lawyer, has denied knowingly assisting them, saying he was only cleaning a toilet. Another former prison employee, identified by authorities as Groves’ girlfriend, is accused of helping in the escape.