Environmental conditions blamed for ankle monitor failure

NEW ORLEANS —

Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman and officials from a company that provides ankle monitors held a news conference Friday afternoon to address questions surrounding how a juvenile charged with a number of crimes was roaming the streets of New Orleans while under house arrest.

The official report into the matter said cellular network issues or environmental conditions caused the problem and allowed the suspect to be where he wasn’t supposed to be.

Investigators said the rash of crimes happened over a week ago and included several robberies, an attempted carjacking and a shooting. A 14-year-old and a 16-year-old were arrested. The 14-year-old was under house arrest but was not in his home.

Gusman initially said the equipment provided by Omnilink failed. The company quickly said that wasn’t true, and they handed out a report Friday blaming the cell towers and the weather.

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