One of the three inmates who has escaped from the Orange County Men’s Central Jail has been captured, a Santa Ana Police Department spokesman said on Friday.
Bac Duong, 43, was taken into custody one week after he and two other inmates, 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri and 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, broke out of the Santa Ana facility, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna confirmed to KTLA around noon.
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said at a news conference shortly after 12 p.m. that he contacted a civilian in Santa Ana and told the person he wanted to turn himself in.
Hutchens did not have additional details about the arrest. Further information would be provided “when available,” the Sheriff’s Department tweeted.
A short time later, the department posted grainy cellphone video on its YouTube page of Duong being escorted back into sheriff’s headquarters.
Prior to his escape, Duong had been held at the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana in connection with a Nov. 18, 2015, incident, in which he is accused of shooting someone during an argument, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
He had a number of charges against him, including felony counts of attempted murder, assault with a firearm, first degree residential burglary and shooting at an inhabiting dwelling or house, a news release from the DA’s office said.
The Santa Ana Police Department was investigating the case.
Duong also faced sentencing enhancements for prior convictions, including first degree burglary in 1995, second degree burglary in 2007, reckless evading of a peace officer in 2008 and possession for a sale of controlled substance in 2011.
He had been in jail for the latest charge since Dec. 2015, and was ineligible for bail due to an immigration hold, Huthens said.
Duong, along with Nayeri and Tieu, had been charged on Monday with one felony count of escape from pending felony charges, the DA’s release stated.
Less than two hours before Duong’s capture was announced, sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said authorities felt “very strongly” that the escapees, considered armed and dangerous, were still in the Southern California area.
They were believed to be driving a 2008 white GMC Savana utility van that was reported stolen from South Los Angeles on Jan. 23, the day after the elaborate escape.
The trio used tools to cut through steel bars, made their way through plumbing tunnels, and used a rope to rappel down the side of the building from the jail’s roof.
Authorities were still on the lookout for the other two men, as well as the white van.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXLB6c-7Qwo&ab_channel=OCSheriff
