Eleven inmates have escaped from a New Orleans jail, prompting law enforcement officials to start a search for them, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said on Friday.
The office did not disclose how the inmates managed to escape from the jail, called the Orleans Parish Justice Center, but said they should be considered “armed and dangerous.” It warned that anyone who harbored them or helped them evade law enforcement could be prosecuted.
The Louisiana State Police said later on Friday that troopers had arrested one of the escapees, Kendall Myles, in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
“Troopers continue to work closely with our local, state and federal partners as the search remains active for the remaining escapees,” the state police said.
Officials noticed that the detainees were missing during a routine head count at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Sheriff Susan Hutson said. The office then activated “emergency protocols” and began a search for the inmates, she said.
“We are actively working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in a full-scale search operation,” Sheriff Hutson said. She said the office urged members of the public to remain alert and to notify law enforcement if they had information that could aid in the search.
The Sheriff’s Office was also beginning an investigation to determine how the inmates escaped and would examine “facility protocols, staff performance and physical security measures,” Sheriff Hutson said.
“Any lapses or failures that contributed to this incident will be addressed swiftly and with full accountability,” she told reporters at a news briefing, at which she declined to take questions.
Maj. Silas Phipps Jr., a leader of the investigative bureau of the Sheriff’s Office, said that officials were “working every angle” in the effort to find the inmates.
“I just want to remind the public and anyone that may be assisting them that, if we identify you and can prove that you are assisting them, we will prosecute you along with them to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
Sheriff Hutson told the New Orleans City Council in October that the Orleans Parish Justice Center had about 1,500 inmates, well above the 1,250-inmate cap set by the council and far more than the 900 inmates her staff could handle, NOLA.com reported last year.
While violent crime in New Orleans was down, Sheriff Hutson said in the article, there had been an influx of people charged solely with misdemeanors such as trespassing, shoplifting and simple assault.
“We still have to hold them,” she told City Council during its annual budget hearing, NOLA.com reported. “It stresses our facilities.”
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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