10 escape New Orleans jail by clogging toilet
NEW ORLEANS—Ten men who broke out of a New Orleans jail last week clogged a toilet to get the water shut off so that they could escape through a hole behind it, a lawyer for a maintenance worker who is charged with helping them said Wednesday.
The worker, Sterling Williams, did not know about the men’s plan and did not allow the inmates to cut a pipe behind the toilet to create an opening for their escape, attorney Michael Kennedy told The Associated Press (AP).
The defense attorney laid out a very different narrative than that pres—ented by authorities a day earlier, when Williams, 33, was arrested.
Authorities have said an inmate instructed Williams to turn off the water to a toilet, leading to one of the largest jailbreaks in recent US history. Five of the men remained at large Wednesday.
Orchestrated plan
Kennedy told the AP that after a deputy called Williams to fix a toilet, he found it overflowing.
“This was clearly all part of an orchestrated plan,” Kennedy said. Williams “was nothing more than the tool they used to turn off the water which they knew would have to happen after clogging the toilet.”
According to an arrest affidavit that made no mention of a clogged toilet, Williams was “initially very evasive and untruthful” during an interview but ultimately told investigators that an inmate had threatened to “shank” him if he did not turn off the water.
Williams could have reported the threat and the escape plan, authorities have said. They asserted that because Williams turned the water off, the inmates were “able to successfully make good” on their escape, the affidavit said.
Kennedy said Williams did not report the escape because he was “not aware” it was happening. The lawyer also addressed authorities’ statements that his client was threatened into helping the escape.
“He was not aware that there was going to be an escape,” Kennedy said. “He was not conspiring with them. He had no knowledge that he was being used.”
The sheriff said Tuesday that she believes the escape was an inside job.
For disabled inmates
Inmate Antoine Massey, who approached Williams and said he would “shank” him as he was doing his maintenance work, was “just talking to talk” and not intimidating the maintenance worker, Kennedy said.
“Everyone seems to have leaped on that, saying he was acting out of fear. No,” Kennedy said. “Yes, someone said they would shank him. They didn’t say it in a particularly threatening manner. They said it more as an aside.”
Kennedy said the cell with the clogged toilet was for disabled inmates and should never have been in use. “No one should have been in this cell to begin with,” he said. “This cell should have been locked down.”
“It would seem obvious to me that filling up the toilet, clogging the toilet, was a portion of the escapees’ plan,” Kennedy said.
Williams did not know the name of the deputy who told him to fix the clogged toilet, he added.
Williams is charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office.
