In May 2025, ten inmates managed to escape from a jail in New Orleans. After a tense standoff on Wednesday, Derrick Groves, one of the escapees, was caught and cheekily blew a kiss to the cameras as he was escorted into a patrol car.
According to reports from WWL and Louisiana State Police, the final escaped inmate from the New Orleans prison was apprehended in Atlanta following a standoff with the police on Wednesday afternoon.
The U.S. Marshals Service and Atlanta Police also confirmed Derrick Groves was captured.
Atlanta Police Department Deputy Chief Kelley Collier explained that officers from the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force, along with APD and Clayton County Police, successfully captured the 28-year-old on Honeysuckle Lane.
“He is the tenth of 10 individuals to be taken into custody from the Orleans Parish incident,” Collier said.
He added the SWAT team was used to help bring him out of the home.
“We used several gas canisters to encourage him to move within the house, eventually driving him to the basement,” Collier stated. “Shortly after, a K-9 from Clayton County was sent into the crawl space where the suspect was hiding, and it located him.”
Groves blew a kiss to the camera as he was placed into a patrol car.
Officials say he will be extradited back to Louisiana for further processing.
In May 2025, Groves and nine other inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center.
Frank Lempka of the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Task Force remarked that a dedicated task force consisting of Marshals from New Orleans, among others, was established for this case and have pursued leads since the prisoners escaped in May.
“We can’t disclose the exact details that led us here, but the investigation was extensive, primarily carried out by our New Orleans Marshals,” Lempka said. “They provided us with information that we verified, which ultimately led us to the suspect’s location.”
Louisiana State Police said on Facebook the standoff was “brief” and said agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and others also helped coordinate the effort.
According to Associated Press reporting from earlier in the year, Groves was convicted by a jury last year of killing two people when he opened fire at a family block party with an assault rifle. The incident arose out of a feud between rival drug dealers, according to the AP.
The AP also reported Groves’ mother, Stephanie Groves, shared she had urged him to surrender peacefully.
“I’m all messed up, I’m just trying to talk to him,” she told the AP after learning about the arrest online.
She told the AP her family was followed and watched by law enforcement since the escape happened.
“I’m just glad it’s over with,” she said. “Of course, he was going to get caught.”
