*Caught On Camera* Woman Walks Out Of Jail After Guard Leaves Door Unlocked, Caught Later

WWLTV: NEW ORLEANS -- For the second time in 24 hours, 31-year-old Torrie Smith was brought back into Orleans Parish Prison for booking. Smith escaped on Monday, by running out of the jail, after an officer with the New Orleans Police Department failed to properly close two doors at the facility.

Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman unveiled surveillance video that captured the entire incident, which you can see here. It shows the NOPD officer not allowing two doors to fully close at the jail's Intake Center.

"Watch how he holds [the door], doesn't let it close," Gusman said, as the video played. "Now, the computer thinks that it's closed because the metal has made contact."

Smith had been awaiting booking on an aggravated battery charge for domestic violence against her boyfriend. She asked to go use the restroom and Gusman said she did so unescorted. That is when Smith escaped through the doors.

"We want all of our security doors to function properly and they're there for a reason," Gusman said. "Doors are meant to be locked for a reason, and not permitting this one to be locked, caused this problem."

Smith is at least the sixth person to escape from the jail this year. In March, Rodney Rogers escaped from a tent building for low-security inmates. In July, two men -- Arthur Johnson and Lester Jones -- got out after breaking through a locked fire door. In October, two other men -- Bryan Dunbar and Alex Lee -- also escaped from the tent building near the jail's House of Detention.
Gusman said the incidents highlight an overall issue: that the jail is still functioning in a temporary facility.

"I want to stress this is a temporary center and that's part of the challenges that we've faced with the previous escape," he said. "Temporary facilities that really aren't permanent, not designed for permanent occupancy. And, you know, when you do something on a temporary basis, you don't really do it and spend all the money that you'd like to spend."

However, Gusman also acknowledged that negligence played a major role in Smith's escape on Monday.
"For the one hand, in a permanent facility, we would have a more secure gate closing behind the officer," he said. "On the other hand, [it's] negligence for sure, that you would prevent a door from engaging it's locking measure on purpose."

Sheriff Gusman would not release the identity of the New Orleans police officer involved in the case. He referred those questions to the NOPD. A spokesperson for the department would only say that the NOPD had worked with the Sheriff's Office to find Smith and would not answer any questions beyond that.