By Gordon Russell
NOLA.com
NEW ORLEANS, La. — The Orleans Parish jail inmate who cavorted on Bourbon Street in a viral video shown in a federal courtroom Tuesday was reported as an escapee from the House of Detention by Sheriff Marlin Gusman on July 21, 2009. Eight days later, Gusman announced that Arthur Johnson, now 36, had been recaptured in Opelousas.
Johnson — who was identified Wednesday morning by WDSU-TV as the man in two of the prison videos shown the previous day — was being held in 2009 on charges of possessing heroin and possessing marijuana, records show.
What isn’t clear is whether Johnson had truly gone on the lam at the time the video was shot, or whether the video captures him simply sneaking out of prison for the night with the intention of returning undetected.
Full story: Did inmate in notorious video escape or sneak out to Bourbon Street?