After a week-long manhunt, inmates Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu, and Bac Duong, each charged with violent crimes, are now recaptured. The trio had formed an elaborate prison break after the 5 a.m. prison head count. Duong had turned himself in after asking an auto store employee to call the police.
Nayeri and Tieu were caught when the public had called police when he recognized the stolen white van that the two were using, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens told reporters.
When officers approached the van, Nayeri had attempted to flee while Tieu remained hidden in the van. The two parked near Whole Foods.
According to Hutchens, when police searched the van, they saw .380-caliber rounds found in the van but neither fugitive had a weapon.
The trio had broke out of a maximum-security jail in Santa Ana January 22. Their prison break was very elaborate and seemed straight out of a movie scene. Their escape featured sheets that braided to make a makeshift rope, cutting through bars, and even an organized fight suspected to distract the staff so the escapees can make their move without being noticed.
Tieu was in jail awaiting trial on a murder charge and attempted murder in an allegedly gang-related attack. Nayeri accused of kidnapping and attacking a man, pouring bleach on him, setting the victim on fire, severing his penis and leaving him to die in the desert.The man had survived. Duong tried on an attempted murder charge.
Nooshafarin Ravaghi, who taught English as a second language, was arrested in connection to the escape. Though she denies she gave them any tools for their prison break, she admits to giving them a Google Earth image of the prison.
All escapees were transported back to the same prison, but they are now in a different section that is more secure.
Featured image courtesy of Orange County Sherriff’s Dept.
