“Houdini” of juvenile inmates still on the run in New Orleans

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NEW ORLEANS — Police are still trying to track down a violent 17-year-old offender after he escaped from custody.
He's been dubbed the "Houdini" of juvenile inmates. Not even two state juvenile corrections officers could stop Curtis Tassin from escaping, as they were dropping him off at the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center in New Orleans.

Someone who lives nearby saw the 17-year-old running away.
"We just saw someone running away from the building, the Juvenile Detention Center, running down the street with his jumpsuit," they told Eyewitness News. "Saw him chuck this big leather belt, this big shackle thing into someone's yard.

It wasn't NOPD who found this evidence, our very own Eyewitness News crew found the escapee's handcuffs.

The Office of Juvenile Justice did not answer whether Tassin slipped out of the handcuffs, or if he was ever wearing them. This is the third time Tassin has escaped state custody.

Curtis Tassin was one of the five teens that escaped from Bridge City back in April of 2022, he also escaped from the Swanson Center for Youth in 2021. Experts say this is a huge failure on OJJ's part.

Security expert Chief Reggie Row Junior says he should have been shackled by the ankles, and those restraints double-checked.

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