All 10 NOLA Jail Escapees From May Captured
6 weeks ago
The only escaped Louisiana inmate who remained on the run following an audacious May jailbreak in which 10 men crawled through a hole behind a toilet has been found in Atlanta, the U.S. Marshals said Wednesday.
Derrick Groves was taken into custody in a house after evading authorities for nearly five months, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair confirmed. Sgt. Kate Stegall, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police, also said Groves was in custody after a brief standoff.
Groves, 28, had been convicted of murder and was facing a possible life sentence before the jailbreak. He had the most violent criminal record of the escapees and authorities had offered a $50,000 reward for tips that lead to his recapture.
“He was hiding in a crawl space,” Fair said. “It appears he was the only one in this house and he was hidden pretty well.”
Fair said law enforcement developed a lead on Groves’ whereabouts with support from the anonymous tip program Crimestoppers, and that the information originated out of New Orleans.
No one else was arrested, Fair said. Groves was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals southeast regional fugitive task force and Atlanta Police Department SWAT team, Fair said.
Groves was captured in a neighborhood just west of the sprawling Fort McPherson, a former U.S. Army military base that has been home to Tyler Perry Studios, one of the largest movie production facilities in the nation.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry applauded law enforcement for putting all 10 escapees “back where they belong: BEHIND BARS,” in a post on X.
The other nine escapees had been recaptured within six weeks of breaking out of the New Orleans jail on May 16, and most were found still in Louisiana.
Derrick Groves was taken into custody in a house after evading authorities for nearly five months, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair confirmed. Sgt. Kate Stegall, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police, also said Groves was in custody after a brief standoff.
Groves, 28, had been convicted of murder and was facing a possible life sentence before the jailbreak. He had the most violent criminal record of the escapees and authorities had offered a $50,000 reward for tips that lead to his recapture.
“He was hiding in a crawl space,” Fair said. “It appears he was the only one in this house and he was hidden pretty well.”
Fair said law enforcement developed a lead on Groves’ whereabouts with support from the anonymous tip program Crimestoppers, and that the information originated out of New Orleans.
No one else was arrested, Fair said. Groves was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals southeast regional fugitive task force and Atlanta Police Department SWAT team, Fair said.
Groves was captured in a neighborhood just west of the sprawling Fort McPherson, a former U.S. Army military base that has been home to Tyler Perry Studios, one of the largest movie production facilities in the nation.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry applauded law enforcement for putting all 10 escapees “back where they belong: BEHIND BARS,” in a post on X.
The other nine escapees had been recaptured within six weeks of breaking out of the New Orleans jail on May 16, and most were found still in Louisiana.
