NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities have arrested a 33-year-old Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office maintenance worker in connection with the escape of 10 jail inmates, the Louisiana Attorney General’s office said Tuesday.
Sterling Williams admitted to law enforcement that one of the escapees “advised him to turn the water off in the cell” before the men slipped away through a hole behind a toilet, the Attorney General’s office said in a statement.
“Instead of reporting the inmate, Williams turned the water off as directed allowing the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape,” it said.
Williams is charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and malfeasance in office.
Sheriff Susan Hutson has said she believes the jail break was an inside job and last week told reporters her agency had suspended three employees pending an investigation.
“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said of the Orleans Justice Center, a correctional facility where 1,400 people are being held.
The inmates escaped early Friday while the lone guard watching them went to get food.
At least one of the steel bars protecting plumbing fixtures “appeared to have been intentionally cut using a tool,” the sheriff’s office stated.
The inmates quickly shed their uniforms and changed into regular clothes.
The absence of the inmates, many charged with or convicted of violent offenses such as murder, was not reported for hours. Four have since been apprehended and six remain at large.
Since the escape, Hutson has pointed to long-standing deficiencies such as faulty locks and staffing shortages. But a growing number of state and local officials have said blame for the escape rests squarely on her for failing her responsibility to keep inmates locked up.
The New Orleans City Council is scheduled to discuss the jail break with the sheriff’s office and other authorities Tuesday.
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