I am not that Willie Sutton .

Even though I (sort of) share a name with the infamous bank robber, I've never been arrested. I visited jails and prisons. By choice. I've never spent a night in one.

So I had no opportunity to escape. And I'm not sure I would've been any good at devising and carrying out an escape plan.

I've gotten my share of parking and speeding tickets. I've been stopped for traffic violations. I can't tell you how many times a police officer has asked me what I was doing somewhere, what's my business there or told me I should be moving along. I've been stopped and questioned because I look like somebody the police were looking for.

Tall Black man. Somewhat athletic in my younger years. Often bearded. Often with a cap. Often in jeans and sneaks. Sometimes with sunglasses. Sometimes with a hoodie.

Maybe I could've been that "somebody."

But why stop me when I was going into my own place with groceries and a key?

Why stop me when I was well-groomed, suited and booted? Wearing a two- or three-piece suit. Starched shirt. Sharp tie. Florsheim wingtips.

We know why.

Willie Sutton didn't have to worry about any of that.

Willie Sutton is not columnist Will Sutton. Willie Sutton, AKA Willie "The Actor" Sutton and "Slick Willie" Sutton, was a career criminal who robbed more than 100 banks during his 40-year crime career. He got about $2 million, but spent about half of his life in prison, escaping three times.

That Sutton — AKA "Slick Willie" and "Willie the Actor" — made no bones about his profession. He was a career criminal. He loved his work. He stole about $2 million during his bank robber days. But he paid a price for it. He spent more than half of his adult life behind bars. Not only was he a man of many disguises — hence “The Actor” — he was slick enough to escape not once or twice, but thrice.

Not many have escaped that many times, I’m sure.

There's some indication that at least one of the 10 men who escaped from the Orleans Parish jail had escaped a jail before. Antoine Massey is still being sought. I guess expertise comes with study and practice.

While it’s rare in New Orleans and Louisiana for groups of inmates to escape from jails and prisons, it happens.

In 2008, eight violent criminals escaped from the Curry County Adult Detention Center in New Mexico. They climbed pipes and cut a hole in the roof. The escape made the TV show "America's Most Wanted." The last escapee wasn't caught until 2012 — in Mexico.

In 2010, three inmates escaped from the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office in Mansura. They went on a crime spree with robberies, a kidnapping and a murder. They were caught two weeks later.

Earlier this year, more than 4,000 prisoners escaped from a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yes, 4,000.

Not all escapes make books or movies. Not all prison escape movies are based on real-life events. Those of us of a certain age certainly remember Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis in 1958’s “The Defiant Ones.” Black and White prisoners had to work together to get away despite their issues.

Clint Eastwood starred in “Escape from Alcatraz,” a movie based on the real-life 1962 escape by three inmates who escaped in part by using a homemade canoe.

“The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) wasn’t based on a true story; it was based on multiple escapes.

Now that eight of the 10 escapees have been captured , all law enforcement are on the lookout for Massey and Derrick Groves, who remained at large as of early Tuesday afternoon. They are considered armed and extremely dangerous. This is a serious public safety issue, but in New Orleans, we often have fun with our frequent woes. There are escape T-shirts, escapee parties and lots of escape memes. Now we have escapee pools. People are betting on which of the two will be the last captured.

This unfortunate jail escape is a made-for-television movie already.

The last two evading arrest may be hoping for weeks, months or years without capture. But this story isn't likely to have a Hollywood ending. There are some political prison break movies that have a fight-the-power theme. But most don't end well for the protagonists.

And for those caught up in the hunt — the friends, neighbors and loved ones who may have been asked to aid these men — the consequences will be life-changing.

Far too many Black men are still being stopped for not much more than being Black. These escapees have been pursued based on things they're accused of doing, but how many others are getting caught up in the dragnet?

They may not get top billing, but many lives and communities have been affected by this drama.