NEW ORLEANS — The sixth and final escapee from the troubled Bridge City Center for Youth is back in custody but not before State Police say he carjacked and shot a 59-year-old man Uptown, leaving him in critical condition.
The other five escapees were back in custody Sunday morning, but the sixth, a 17-year-old, went on a violent crime spree, according to State Police and Juvenile Justice Center officials.
Following the carjacking and a chase, the teen and another teen who was not in the Bridge City facility, were taken into custody on St. Bernard Avenue.
The escape by half a dozen inmates at the Jefferson Parish west bank facility is the latest in a string of escapes and is likely to accelerate calls for it to close.
One woman who lives near the center said she wasn't surprised about news of the breakout.
"I said, 'Hmm. Here we go again," Brenda Plaisance said after receiving a 3 a.m. call alerting her about the escape.
She lives six blocks away.
"The message said six prisoners had escaped. That was it," she said.
Just over two miles from the detention center, several escapees stole a truck along River Road according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.
A deputy saw them in the stolen truck and started chasing them in his unit. The pursuit didn't last long as the inmates repeatedly rammed into his unmarked JPSO unit. Five of the six were then captured.
Then around 4 p.m., NOPD said the 17-year-old and another armed suspect shot and carjacked the man on Nashville and Loyola avenues.
An hour later, Louisiana State troopers saw that stolen car and tried to pull it over. They did not stop so troopers began chasing the suspects who then crashed on St. Bernard Avenue.
"It's a safety issue for this community," said Jefferson Parish Councilmember-At-Large Scott Walker.
At least two dozen juvenile inmates have escaped from the center in the last year and last month about 20 inmates broke out of their dorms and took control of the jail.
Jefferson Parish Council members discussed it at their meeting a few weeks ago. They are asking the state to close the facility.
"We were told by someone from the state who came to our meeting that it was not possible for feasible to close it at this time," Walker said.
Walker said the state beefed up security since.
"But it's not working. People keep escaping from there," Walker said.
"I am beyond disappointed. We were told there would be enhanced security inside and outside the facility. Apparently, that has not taken place so we have to get to the bottom of it," said Senator Pat Connick.
Sen. Connick said he was in touch with Governor John Bel Edwards after the Sunday escape.
"He promised me to do an investigation and report back tomorrow what the details are," Sen. Connick said.
Plaisance hopes something will change so she can feel safe in her home.
"It's scary," she said. "It's time for them to do something."
The 18-year-old juvenile now faces charges of simple escape, aggravated escape, simple robbery, battery of a correctional facility employee, simple kidnapping, and false imprisonment, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice.