May 16 (UPI) -- New surveillance footage from the Orleans Parish jail shows the moment ten detainees escaped from custody early Friday morning, sparking a massive manhunt, as officials said the escapees had inside help.
The jail footage, published by the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office on Facebook, appears to show one of the men using brute force before another detainee joins in. The men are then seen fleeing into the night air from the docks where supplies are brought into the jail.
The sheriff's office said in a statement late Friday that investigators are still working to find nine of the men who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center and acknowledged the "lapses in security" that led to their escape.
"While the facility was placed on lockdown at 10:30 p.m. the night before the escape, the detainees were able to exit their cells due to defective locks and doors," officials wrote in the Friday night update.
"At approximately 12:23 a.m., the detainees began tampering with a locked cell door, ultimately breaking it open."
Authorities said that a staff member was present, but the detainees breached a wall behind a toilet in their housing unit, which was out of view, and exited around 1:01 a.m. before "scaling a wall" and running across the interstate.
Their absence was not spotted until a routine headcount around 8:30 a.m.
"We also have indications that these escapees received assistance from individuals inside the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office," authorities said.
The sheriff's office acknowledged that the jail is facing "critical issues" with its infrastructure while it denounced those who are seeking to make the incident "political."
Those infrastructure issues include defective locks on the cells and inoperable security cameras throughout the facility.
"These security breaches, combined with ongoing staffing shortages, have made it difficult to maintain the level of security required," the sheriff's office said.
"OPSO is actively advocating for capital budget improvements to address these pressing needs. We are committed to ensuring that the necessary repairs are made to restore full functionality to the facility and to improve the overall safety and security of both detainees and staff."
Louisiana State Police said on social media that the FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of any escapees.
