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| Orange County's Sheriff's Department |
“This appears to be a very sophisticated operation,” Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said of the inmates’ escape, the first at the jail in nearly 30 years.
Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, were discovered missing from the jail on Friday. Tieu is charged with murder, Duong with attempted murder and Nayeri with kidnapping and torture.
The inmates, wearing orange jumpsuits, were last seen about 5 a.m., authorities said. They were discovered missing later that night.
There was a fight inside the facility about 8 p.m. that may have been part of the escape plan, sheriff’s officials said. The fight delayed the nighttime headcount, which normally takes place at that hour.
The inmates were discovered missing when the headcount was completed about 9 p.m.
The inmates were able to get past security points in at least three areas, accessing the jail's plumbing system, apparently using tools to cut through metal bars and bedsheets to descend at least four stories to reach the ground, authorities said. How they got those tools and how they went undetected is still unknown.
"I've been in law enforcement for 37 years, always working for sheriff's departments that manage jails. And escapes do occur from time to time," Hutchens said. "We try and limit that. We learn from the mistakes. I can tell you that this is a very sophisticated-looking operation. People in jail have a lot of time to sit around and think about ways to defeat our systems."
The Men's Central Jail houses more than 900 inmates. About 70% to 80% of the inmates are felons, with more than 384 in custody for murder, attempted murder and other serious, violent crimes, Hutchens said.
The jail, built in 1968, is a hulking concrete compound in Santa Ana's civic center, its sheer concrete walls rising several stories. The roof is lined with loops of barbed wire.
One factor in the escape, Hutchens said, is the age and layout of the jail. The central jail is an older "linear" facility, designed in a way that inmates are able to move through different areas throughout the day.
"If you have someone in a cell block, you can't leave them locked down 24 hours a day," Hutchens said. "Unfortunately the reality is, we will have escapes. We learn from our mistakes, we investigate how this happened, we tighten up our security and we change policies if necessary."
All three of the escaped inmates were being held in the same dormitory-style cell, known as a "tank," that houses 68 men in bunk beds in one large room, said Carrie Braun, public affairs manager for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The Sheriff's Department would not disclose the escaped inmates' security classification, other than to say they were all the same level. Inmates are assigned categories that are not based solely on the offenses they are charged with, but on a variety of factors, including their level of "criminal sophistication," Braun said.
Braun said of the escaped inmates: "If they were considered an escape risk before this, they would not have been housed in a 68-man tank. I can guarantee you that."
Photos released by the Sheriff's Department on Sunday show a rectangular hole cut in a steel screen on a wall behind bunks at the jail that allowed the inmates to access a plumbing and ventilation tunnel.
The department also released 30 seconds of surveillance video taken from a fenced-in recreation area on the roof of the jail, which sheriff's officials say shows a person with a flashlight moving in an unsecured area of the roof. Additional photos show razor wire on the jail's roof that was moved aside and a makeshift rope, fashioned out of linens, that was found in a paper bag in the dormitory, according to sheriff's officials.
Investigators are also reviewing video surveillance that may offer clues about how the men were able to get away once they broke out of the jail, Hutchens said.
In addition to a $20,000 reward offered by the FBI, the U.S. marshals announced they are offering $30,000 -- or $10,000 for information leading to the apprehension of each fugitive.
Hutchens said authorities had received a number of good tips on the escaped inmates' whereabouts, but have confirmed no sightings of the three men. She said there is no indication that any of them have left the country.
The sheriff warned the public that the men were violent and to "presume that they are armed," she said. "Do not approach them."
Tieu had been held on a $1-million bond since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.
Nayeri had been held without bond since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. Nayeri and three other men are accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012.
They drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then cut off his penis, authorities said.
After the crime, Nayeri fled the U.S. to his native Iran, where he remained for several months. He was arrested in Prague, Czech Republic, in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.
Bac Duong, the third escaped inmate, was being held without bond since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.
Braun asked that anyone with information call the hotline at (714) 628-7085 or call 911 with any sightings of the men.
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