3 more escapees from a New Orleans jail are caught, leaving 2 at large, officials say

NEW ORLEANS — Three more of the 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail earlier this month were re-arrested Monday in two different states after more than a week on the lam, authorities said.

One of the men was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by local police and two others were arrested in Walker County, Texas, by officials there, Louisiana State Police posted on the platform X.

Two more inmates are still on the run, state police said. No other details were immediately released about Monday’s arrests.

Authorities have been scouring the New Orleans area for the men after they escaped in an audacious May 16 jailbreak. The men yanked open a faulty cell door inside a jail, squeezed through a hole behind a toilet, scaled a barbed-wire fence and fled into the coverage of darkness.

The inmates’ absence wasn’t discovered until a morning headcount, hours after they bolted for freedom. Graffiti left on the wall included the message “To Easy LoL,” with an arrow pointing to the gap.

City and state officials have pointed to multiple security lapses in the jail.

Louisiana authorities named the latest inmates who were recaptured as Lenton Vanburen, Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald. Jail escapees Dkenan Dennis, Corey Boyd, Gary C. Price, Kendell Myles and Robert Moody were previously taken into custody by authorities.

Many of the men were originally in the New Orleans jail awaiting sentences or trials for alleged violent crimes including murder.

After the escape, a jail maintenance worker was arrested and accused of turning off the water to the toilet, an act authorities said helped the men get out. The worker said he had been threatened by one of the inmates if he refused to do so.

In addition, four other people have been arrested for allegedly helping the inmates once they were on the loose.