Last New Orleans inmate recaptured five months after escape

The last of the 10 New Orleans inmates who escaped jail five months ago has been recaptured.

Derrick Groves, 28, who broke out of the Orleans Justice Center in May, has been captured, authorities said Wednesday, The Hill news outlet reported.

He was taken into custody in Atlanta after a brief standoff, according to Louisiana State Police. Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair said that a SWAT team spent multiple hours searching a house for Groves after obtaining a search warrant.

“They couldn’t find him, they had to deploy gas multiple times into the house and basement,” Fair said. “Based on how long it took a seasoned, well-trained SWAT team to get him out, he had planned to hide for a while.”

A police dog was sent in and located Groves, Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Kelley Collier said. Groves blew a kiss and grinned at someone filming him as he was led into a police car shirtless, shoeless, and shackled at his wrists and ankles, according to video provided by the Atlanta Police Department.

Fair said that the tip leading to his capture came in via New Orleans Crimestoppers, an anonymous tip program. Groves was the only person found in the house, which is in a neighborhood beside Tyler Perry Studios, one of the country’s largest movie production facilities.

Ten inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center just after midnight on May 16 but were not discovered missing until a routine headcount at 8:30 a.m. later that day. Authorities said the inmates, after removing the toilet and breaching a wall behind it, escaped from the jail through a loading dock door, before scaling fences and crossing the I-10 highway.

The ninth inmate was recaptured in June, and authorities arrested and accused over a dozen people of helping the inmates escape, including one maintenance worker at the facility who has been accused of turning off the water in the toilet that was removed. The worker has denied the accusation. 

Groves was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder last October, and was facing a possible life sentence in prison after opening fire on a family block party on Mardi Gras, killing two people and injuring others. He had the most violent criminal record of the escaped inmates, and authorities offered a $50,000 reward for tips leading to his recapture.

“Convicted murderer Derrick Groves has finally been recaptured in Atlanta after a brief stand-off,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. “He now faces charges for his role in the escape and I will ensure that he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”