A five-month manhunt for Derrick Groves — the final of 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail in mid-Might — ended Wednesday afternoon after a tip led federal regulation enforcement to a crawl house in an Atlanta residence, investigators say.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Honest of the Japanese District of Louisiana informed CBS Information that Groves, convicted of a 2018 double homicide, was arrested shortly after 2 p.m. ET following a coordinated operation between the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Process Power and the Atlanta Police Division SWAT crew.
The arrest stemmed from a Crime Stoppers Higher New Orleans tip acquired earlier this summer time that pointed investigators towards the Atlanta space. Honest declined to specify when the tip got here in, citing security issues and the necessity to shield the informant.
“We have been receiving suggestions all summer time,” he mentioned. “We do not need to get any person damage or something, so we’re not placing the precise time-frame on when that tip got here in.”
After weeks of follow-up work, marshals in Louisiana pushed out a result in counterparts in Georgia. Officers executed a search warrant at a house within the Atlanta space that investigators consider Groves might have been staying in for a while. Honest mentioned it was “presumably a rental residence,” however added, “There’s loads of follow-up work that’ll be executed on this to reply these questions.”
At first, it appeared the home was empty. “Usually throughout our fugitive work, now we have not less than some indicators that the individual is on the home — motion, operating, one thing,” Honest mentioned. “This didn’t occur.”
Investigators deployed fuel into the house a number of instances, together with within the basement, earlier than discovering Groves hiding inside a slim crawl house.
“We did have issues possibly he wasn’t in the home,” Honest mentioned. “However in the end, they discovered him hiding in a crawl house. I consider that crawl house was within the basement … and he had put some thought and work into the hiding house he was in.”
Honest mentioned Groves appeared “ready to cover for the lengthy haul” and will have bolstered the house himself. He was taken into custody with out damage, and no weapons have been recovered on the scene, although an additional search of the residence is now underway.
Authorities are nonetheless piecing collectively how Groves traveled from New Orleans to Atlanta, whether or not he acquired help and the way lengthy he had been in Georgia.
“I would most likely guess [he traveled by] automotive, however we do not know,” Honest mentioned. “That is going to be a part of the follow-up work that is going to be executed now that he is in custody.”
Honest mentioned Groves was believed to be a ringleader within the Might 16 jailbreak from the Orleans Parish Justice Middle, through which inmates pulled a jail cell door off its tracks, eliminated a bathroom from an empty cell and crawled by means of a gap within the wall earlier than scaling a fence. The brazen escape uncovered design flaws and safety failures within the 10-year-old jail, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson informed CBS Information earlier this yr.
All 10 escapees have now been captured.
The U.S. Marshals credited a coalition of companies — together with the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Workplace, New Orleans Police Division, Louisiana State Police, Homeland Safety Investigations, FBI and Atlanta Police — for his or her roles within the investigation.
Honest additionally credited media protection and public engagement for maintaining consideration on the case.
“He was bombarded on the information for months on finish,” Honest mentioned. “The media was an enormous a part of this seize. It stored him on the run and doubtless fairly drained all summer time.”
Jail information in Fulton County, Georgia, present Groves was booked on fugitive from justice costs. Groves is predicted to be extradited to Louisiana, the place he’ll face further costs associated to the escape. Honest mentioned Louisiana State Police are prone to lead that switch.
“We’re simply completely happy no person received injured,” Honest mentioned. “All 10 of the escapees are again in custody, and we’re pleased with that success.”
