The Breakdown: New Orleans home to two of largest jailbreaks in American history

In your Breakdown: the largest jail breaks in American history, and where New Orleans ranks on the list.

We focused on jail and prison breaks in the United States within the last 100 years, using old FBI information, old newspapers, and historical resources. The list may not be complete, but it highlights many of the escapes that made major headlines in the last century.

New Orleans’ most recent jailbreak is not its biggest. In December of 1968, 21 inmates escaped from Orleans Parish Prison. An article in the New York Times from the day of the escape reads.

“Twenty-one dangerous criminals smashed a hole through the attic and escaped from the Orleans Parish Prison, an overcrowded jail described as a "rat-infested 16th century asylum."

In 1974, eleven inmates escaped from Dade County Jail in Florida. One of the escapees, who had been awaiting trial for a double murder, killed a store clerk while on the run and was not caught for more than 100 days.

In 1968, nine men escaped from Utah State Prison, including two men on death row.

Other notable escapes include one in Clovis, New Mexico, where eight inmates climbed up plumbing pipes and cut a hole in a roof. Seven, including James Earl Ray, escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in 1977.

There are also smaller, but sizeable escapes in Kenedy, Texas, in 2000 and Boydton, Virginia, in 1984. In the Boydton case, six death row inmates escaped.

These do not even compare to the scale of some escapes in other parts of the world. But when it comes to the United States, New Orleans now makes the list twice.

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