Inmate Who Pepper-Sprayed Deputy Recaptured

UPDATE Feb 27, 2024 6:14 PM CST

Escaped Louisiana murder suspect Leon Ruffin has been recaptured and will face additional charges including assaulting a police officer, authorities say. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said Tuesday that the 51-year-old inmate was arrested at a hotel in New Orleans East, two days after he pepper-sprayed a deputy and stole her vehicle, ABC News reports. The sheriff said Ruffin, who wears a boot on his leg for an injury, was taken to a hospital after he allegedly faked a seizure on Sunday. He said that when Ruffin was being taken back to jail, he escaped after claiming his boot was stuck in the cage in the back of the police vehicle. He pepper-sprayed the deputy as she checked on him. "She treated somebody with compassion that doesn't deserve compassion, to be honest with you," the sheriff said.

Feb 26, 2024 4:10 PM CST

A murder suspect in Louisiana pepper-sprayed a deputy and stole her vehicle in an escape Sunday evening, authorities say. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office says 51-year-old Leon Ruffin was taken from a jail to a hospital for treatment for a seizure on Sunday, though authorities now believe he may have been faking his symptoms, NBC News reports. The sheriff's office says Ruffin "created some type of disturbance" in the parking lot when a deputy was transporting him away from the hospital. When she opened the door of the Ford Explorer SUV to check on Ruffin, he pepper-sprayed her, charged at her, and escaped in the marked sheriff's office vehicle.

Authorities say the deputy fired at Ruffin up to three times, but it's not clear whether he was hit. The sheriff's office says it's not clear where Ruffin got the pepper spray, because the deputy still had her pepper spray, Taser, and service weapon when he escaped. The vehicle was later found abandoned in New Orleans' Algiers neighborhood. Authorities say Ruffin should be considered armed and dangerous, Fox News reports.

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Ruffin had been in custody in the Jefferson Parish jail since his July arrest on charges including second-degree murder, USA Today reports. Sheriff Joe Lopinto said Sunday that Ruffin would have faced a life sentence if convicted. "I really don't believe he has anything to lose," Lopinto said. (More escaped criminal stories.)