Maintenance worker arrested in New Orleans jail escape claims he was threatened by inmate

A maintenance worker at a New Orleans jail has been arrested and accused of helping 10 inmates escape from the facility late last week, Louisiana’s attorney general announced Tuesday. The worker, identified as 33-year-old Sterling Williams, was arrested Monday night, the attorney general’s office confirmed to CBS News.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement that Williams allegedly told investigators an inmate “advised him” to turn the water off in the cell that would be used for the escape, which involved removing a toilet from the wall.

According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Williams told investigators that he was threatened by one of the inmates who later escaped, Antoine Massey. Williams said that Massey allegedly threatened to shank him if he didn’t shut off the water, according to the affidavit. Massey is one of the six inmates who is still on the run.

According to Murrill, Williams allegedly turned off the water, which allowed the escape to proceed.

Williams has been charged with principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office, both felonies.

“We will uncover all the facts eventually and anyone who aided and abetted will be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows,” Murrill said in the statement. “I encourage anyone who knows anything and even those who may have provided assistance to come forward now to obtain the best possible outcome in their particular case.”

The inmates broke out of the jail on Friday, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which runs the facility. Three of the inmates were captured later that day. A fourth was captured Monday, officials said.

It all started in the early predawn hours of Friday morning. Several inmates were caught on surveillance video forcing open a cell door at about 12:22 a.m. CDT, according to the sheriff’s office. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson told reporters the inmates then breached a wall behind the cell’s toilet.

At around 1 a.m., the inmates were seen on video fleeing the building through a nearby loading dock, according to the sheriff’s office. At about 1:19 a.m., the group climbed over a fence, using blankets to cover barbed wire, and fled across Interstate 10 into a neighborhood.

The escape went unnoticed by the sheriff’s office until approximately 8:30 a.m. Friday, according to the office. At the time of the escape, no sheriff’s deputy was assigned to the area where the inmates initiated the jailbreak, and a civilian monitor stationed in the area had stepped away for food.

The sheriff’s office had said three workers were suspended without pay as the office conducts an internal investigation. It wasn’t immediately clear if the maintenance worker was one of the three workers.

Hutson had told reporters the inmates may have received help from at least one person inside the sheriff’s office. She also said the office has spent years asking local officials for more than $5 million in funds to upgrade faulty locks on cell doors.