1 of final 2 New Orleans jail escapees found in Airbnb after sheriff received tip: Police

One of the final two escapees from a New Orleans jailbreak last month has been recaptured after six weeks on the run, authorities said Friday.

Antoine Massey, 33, is in custody, the U.S. Marshals Service has confirmed. He was located and arrested in a residence in New Orleans on Friday evening, according to the Louisiana State Police.

A tip from a citizen to Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson led law enforcement to the house in the city’s Third District, according to New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick.

“He peacefully gave up to law enforcement who had surrounded the house,” Kirkpatrick said during a press briefing Friday evening.

The residence is an Airbnb, according to Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges, who said authorities are investigating those who may have helped him.

“It’s pretty obvious over the last six weeks, to remain a fugitive that long, he had assistance — he had help,” Hodges said at the briefing.

Earlier this month, Louisiana authorities were investigating a video circulating online that appeared to show Massey pleading to rappers and President Donald Trump to help him while he was still on the run.

Hutson thanked the community and law enforcement partners for capturing Massey.

“Together, we made this happen, and I’m grateful,” she said.

Massey will be transported to a “secure state correctional facility outside of the area,” Louisiana State Police said in a press release.

At the time of the escape, Massey was incarcerated for domestic abuse battery involving strangulation, theft of a motor vehicle and a parole violation, state police said, adding, “Additional charges may be forthcoming.”

Massey was among 10 inmates who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center last month, according to Louisiana State Police.

Derrick Groves, the last remaining escapee, is still at large.

“We still have one more,” Kirkpatrick said during the briefing.

Addressing Groves, she said, “We are going to capture you. You will be taken into custody. But you still have the option to peacefully turn yourself in, and we will make an appeal to you to do so.”

“All of these captures have been able to be done peacefully and that is also the end of the game. We don’t want anyone hurt,” she continued.

Authorities had increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of Massey and Groves to $50,000 per inmate last month, as police said at the time that they believed they were closing in on the “dangerous” fugitives.

Groves was convicted last year of two counts of second-degree murder in a 2018 Mardi Gras Day shooting and faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said. Unrelated to that case, he also subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, online court records show.

His girlfriend, Darriana Burton, was arrested this month for allegedly helping Groves escape, authorities said. She allegedly had an “active involvement in the planning phase of the escape,” according to the affidavit for her arrest warrant, including relaying “escape-related information” and coordinating communications between Groves and people outside the jail.

The 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center in the early morning hours of May 16 after climbing through a hole behind a toilet. Their disappearance was not noticed for several hours and touched off a massive manhunt.

Burton is one of over a dozen people who have been arrested on suspicion of helping the escapees, including another inmate in the jail and a jail maintenance worker who is accused of shutting off water to the toilet allowing escapees to remove it.

Three of the 10 inmates who escaped were apprehended in New Orleans within the first 24 hours of the jailbreak. The others were captured in the following days, including in Baton Rouge and Texas.

Hutson said Friday that the sheriff’s office is continuing to “harden and modernize” the jail in the wake of the escape.

“We’re installing new razor wire, tightening physical barriers, upgrading locking mechanisms,” she said. “These all play an important role in the safety of our residents, staff and the entire community.”