California Prison Break: Inmates Escape By Rappelling, Santa Ana Manhunt Underway For Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu, Bac Duong


This California prison break sounds almost like fiction at first glance. The Santa Ana jail inmates escaped by cutting through half-inch steel bars, dug into the a plumbing maintenance tunnel, and then made their way to an unsecured roof on top of the Orange County jail. From there, they used an improvised rope to rappel down four stories to the ground. After working their way around the barbed wire, the three men completed their prison escape and fled into the dark.

“This was clearly a well-thought out and planned escape,” Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

Reports indicate that Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, were living in a housing tank within the Central Jail Complex known as Mod F, which they shared with 65 other prison inmates. The jailbreak took place some time between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday. It was not until the 9 p.m. head count that the jail staff realized the inmates had escaped.

“We have several counts throughout the 24-hour period. We have two, what we call, physical body counts — where they physically count the bodies and match them to our record cards,” Hallock said, according to the Orange County Register.

Investigators are still trying to figure out how the three men managed to get hold of the tools used in their escape, or if they slowly made their escape hole all at once or in slow increments. The sheriff’s department is looking into whether the men had inside help, or if a getaway driver helped them make their escape. Officials are also uncertain if the inmates escaped while wearing their jailhouse orange jumpsuits, of if they stole clothing allowing them to blend into crowds within California’s cities.

Orange County sheriff's deputies investigate early Saturday morning, Jan. 23, 2016, after three jail inmates charged with violent crimes escaped from Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who is charged with murder; 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. Friday morning and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (AP Photo/Kevin Warn)
[Image via AP Photo/Kevin Warn]
Hallock believes one thing is clear: it took months or weeks to plan their California prison escape, and it’s possible other inmates staged a “disturbance” at the jail during the nightly check in order to provide cover.

“It appears, based on that disturbance and the timing of things, that that may have been part of the planning process, but again we’re still very early in the investigation,” he said.

In regards to the manhunt underway, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said her department, along with other local law enforcement agencies, are working hard to ensure that Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu, and Bac Duong do not successfully escape.

“We are utilizing every resource available to ensure these inmates are brought back into custody as quickly as possible,” Hutchens said in a statement released by the Orange County sheriff’s department. “I take this situation very seriously and the men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will not rest until all three men are captured.”

This image provided by the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, shows three jail inmates charged with violent crimes who escaped from the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men from left are, 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who is charged with murder, and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. on Friday and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP)
[Image via Orange County Sheriff’s Department via AP]
Police believe there is no link shared among the three men. They shared housing arrangements together in the prison, but otherwise Duong had spent less than a month in custody. The only connection shared by the three men is their history of violence and crime.

Nayeri was arrested on two counts of kidnapping for ransom/extortion, aggravated mayhem, torture, count of burglary, sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily harm. Duong was arrested for attempted murder, burglary, three firearms violations, and sentencing enhancements for attempted premeditated murder and inflicting great bodily harm. Tieu was arrested for murder, attempted murder, street terrorism, and sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity.

Hossein Nayeri’s crime was the strangest of all. He was one of four men who kidnapped and tortured a marijuana dispensary owner and his girlfriend. They drove out to the desert looking for buried money, but when it couldn’t be found, they burned the dispensary owner with a blowtorch, cut off his penis, and ran off with the bodily organ so it could never be re-attached. They even dumped bleach on the victims before releasing them on the side of the road.

Just a week before this crime, Nayeri was in a high speed police chase with Newport Beach cops. According to Gawker, he managed to escape both times and fled to his native country Iran. While trying to visit family in Spain, authorities in the Czech Republic managed to catch him and extradite him to Orange County.

In the aftermath of the California prison break, the FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for any tips that will help help the manhunt currently underway. Anyone with information about the fugitives is asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714-628-7085 or to submit anonymous tips to CrimeStoppers at 855-847-6227.

[Image via Orange County Sheriff’s Department]

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