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NEW ORLEANS � A manhunt is underway for 10 inmates who escaped from the
Orleans Justice Center, and Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the breakout highlights the urgent need for funding secured through a recently renewed millage.

The Escape
Sheriff Hutson and her leadership team detailed how the inmates managed to escape. She said faulty door locks were a key factor.

�We know that folks are normally locked down in this facility at 10:30
p.m., but these folks that were able to get out did so because of
defective locks on the cells,� Hutson said.

�What we noticed is that the detainees began yanking on a locked cell door
to pull it off its track. These are the cells that we keep saying we need
to replace at great cost in this facility. They were able to break that
around 12:23 a.m. They were able to break open a door. There was a
corrections monitoring technician in the pod module watching for that,�
she said.

�They were still able to exit the jail about 1:01 a.m. after breaching a
wall behind a toilet in the jail, and based on video surveillance, they
were seen exiting a door on the docks where we normally bring in supplies, scaling a wall, and running across the interstate shortly thereafter. We
have indications that these detainees received assistance in their escape
from individuals inside our department.�

State Rep. Aimee Freeman calls for Sheriff Hutson�s resignation after
inmate escape

The escape wasn�t discovered until a routine headcount was conducted
around 8:30 a.m. Friday.

�The deputy who was on duty promptly notified jail leadership, and around probably before 9:30, we located and notified the United States Marshals
Task Force, which includes all of our partners in the area,� Hutson said.

�I found out about 9 o'clock and was on my way to the jail. About that
time, I don't know the exact time I can't give you, but it was before
9:30; I asked our personnel, have we notified the NOPD? Have we notified
our partners? I was told yes, the task force was notified, and then we
were also able to discern that the NOPD was also notified through the
Fusion Center.�

Hutson clarified that only nine inmates remain at large. One escapee,
Kendall Miles, was found by OPSO deputies hiding under a car in the Hotel Monteleone parking garage.

Another inmate, Keith Lewis, was initially thought to be among the
escapees, but was later determined to have been relocated to another cell without the proper update in facility records.

The Millage
Hutson said the escape was the result of ongoing deficiencies in the
jail�s aging infrastructure�issues she raises regularly with city
officials during city budget hearings.

One such deficiency, she emphasized, is the failing lock system.

�I've talked about those locks since I got into office. I wrote a letter
to the consent decree judge, to the city council, and everybody else who
would listen, and every time I go to budget, I say the exact same thing,� Hutson said.

�When you all (media) covered our millage, I said the exact same thing.
There are deficiencies in these facilities that cause public safety
concerns. That's why the millage was so important. We'll get into that a
little bit more as we move forward. I need to confirm that Kendall Miles
is in custody.�

The millage, originally approved in 2014, was set to expire at the end of
this year. Its renewal ensures continued funding for jail operations and infrastructure.

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/crime/new-orleansjail-escape-defective- locks-sheriff-statement-crime-orleans-prison-jail-manhunt-nopd-opso- orleans-parish-louisiana-justice/289-9e3ef83b-5211-44cc-8dd6- 7dee8e9aeb8b?ref=exit-recirc

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