Violent crime suspects escape California jail
January 25, 2016
Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong
A murder suspect and a man accused of severing the penis of a medical marijuana dispensary owner are part of a trio who remain at large after escaping an Orange County Jail on Friday. [CBS News]
The inmates escaped the Orange County Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana by cutting through half-inch steel bars, climbing to the roof of the facility and using a rope made of bed sheets to rappel down four stories. The jail is a maximum-security facility.
Authorities say the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. Friday. They could have escaped anytime between 5 a.m. and late Friday night.
Jail staff discovered they were missing during the 8 p.m count. Some kind of disturbance occurred before the nighttime count, which investigators say may have been part of the escape plan.
Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said at a press conference Saturday the escape was “very well-though-out and planned.”
The escapees who are on the run are Jonathan Tieu, 20; Hossein Nayeri, 37; and Bac Duong, 43.
Tieu had been held on $1 million bail since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His alleged crimes are believed to be linked to gang activity.
Nayeri had been held without bail since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. Nayeri and three other men allegedly kidnapped a medical marijuana dispensary owner, drove him to the Mojave Desert and cut off his penis. The victim survived the ordeal.
After the crime, Nayeri fled to Iran, where he has family and is not subject to United States extradition agreements. Federal investigators reportedly coaxed him into flying to Europe, and he was arrested at a Prague airport.
Duong had been held without bail since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.
Investigators say it was not clear whether the men were armed when they escaped, but they should be considered dangerous.
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