'They tore a toilet off the wall': How 10 inmates vanished from 'train wreck' of New Orleans jail

In the dead of night on May 16, 10 inmates slipped out of the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility , some tearing through the wall behind a toilet, others simply walking their way to freedom while jail staff remained oblivious for hours. It wasn't until 8:30 am that anyone noticed they were gone.

Now, five are still on the run. One of them is Antoine Massey , a seasoned escape artist with a rap sheet that includes rape, kidnapping, and three prior jail breaks. Authorities had stopped even bothering with ankle monitors, he kept cutting them off.

So how did this happen? According to former federal warden Cameron Lindsay : this wasn’t a fluke. It was inevitable.

“That jail’s a train wreck,” Lindsay told Fox News Digital. “Inmates tearing toilets off the wall to escape? That shouldn’t even be physically possible.”

This is the hole 10 prisoners escaped through in the New Orleans jail pic.twitter.com/kqy0FjNyK4

— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) May 17, 2025

Lindsay, who ran high-security federal lockups for 20 years, said the New Orleans facility was a “quintessential failure in corrections.” And it’s not just one moment of negligence, it’s years of broken systems, ignored warnings, and shocking inaction.

Back in 2013, the jail was placed under a federal consent decree due to rampant civil rights abuses. Twelve years later, the latest oversight report from October 2024 shows the facility is still failing: only 42% of requirements are fully met, with another 5% completely ignored. The rest? Barely halfway there.

🇺🇸 TOILET ESCAPE: JAIL WORKER ACCUSED OF HELPING 10 INMATES BREAK OUT IN NEW ORLEANS

In a jailbreak straight out of a movie, 10 inmates at a New Orleans jail escaped through a wall—after allegedly being helped by someone who was supposed to maintain the place.

Sterling… pic.twitter.com/bDjglb0358

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 20, 2025

The report reads like something out of a prison thriller: unchecked violence, inmates fashioning weapons, widespread drug use, and self-appointed “tank bosses” running extortion rings inside the jail. Security checks? Not recorded. Staff? Outnumbered and outmatched.

“This isn’t just mismanagement,” Lindsay said. “This is abandonment of basic jail operations. These are inmates — not guests. If they’re not being watched, they’ll take control.”

Massey, the most dangerous of the escapees, should never have been in a general population unit, let alone with eight other high-risk inmates. Lindsay says under his watch, Massey would’ve been under 30-minute irregular checks and known by name to every staffer.

Escape from New Orleans jail. Three of ten inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail were apprehended by Friday night, while authorities continued to search for seven others in the jailbreak that may have had inside help, officials said. pic.twitter.com/ip0dxPccCx

— James Boone (@jaboone44) May 25, 2025

“Why were nine high-security inmates in one cell? It’s absurd,” he said.

And when the escape happened, the response was just as chaotic. No alerts. No citywide notice. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick only learned of the breakout through the media, not from the jail.

“There’s no emergency protocol. No communication. No clue what they’re doing,” Lindsay said. “The No. 1 rule in corrections is protect the public. When inmates walk out unnoticed and cops find out from TV? You’ve already failed.”

It’s not the first time this jail has made headlines, and likely won’t be the last. But for now, the public is left asking: if this is the best we can do to keep dangerous inmates off the streets, what’s next?

The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office declined to comment.