A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the capture of the fugitives. After an appeal that was eventually denied, Immigration and Customs officials took custody of him in 2003, Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said.
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Nayeri was probably the mastermind of the escape, Hutchens said, saying his sophistication and past have investigators focusing on his role.
The men are believed to have escaped shortly after a 5 a.m. physical body count, one of two that take place each day at the jail. They were determined to be missing roughly 16 hours later at an evening head count.
Hutchens said changes had been made to the policy, but did not elaborate.
Hutchens said authorities are embarrassed.
As authorities continue their search for three inmates who allegedly broke out of a California jail recently, officials with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department responded Tuesday to criticism that the prisoners, all facing violent criminal charges, had not been housed securely. “I am troubled by the amount of time it took for us to discover that three inmates from our maximum-security jail were unaccounted for for such a long period of time”, Hutchens said. Now jail officers have to call and confirm the inmate is where paperwork indicates he should be. Two are physical body counts at 5 a.m. and 8 p.m., while the rest are a comparison of computer records with a “mod card”, which is essential a jail ID card that lists a detainee’s charges and other information, Hallock said.
Motion sensor cameras – available for $55 and often used as baby monitors – can be installed along interior tunnels and pipes to catch inmates, Tamez said.
“That portion of the (internal) investigation is ongoing”.
Hallock, however, said at least half the men held in “Module F” are violent offenders.
The sheriff’s spokesman said the two most recent happened in 1986 and 1988. There were other escapes in the early 1980s and in 1968, he said.
Court documents made public Tuesday offered the most detailed description of the escape scheme yet, suggesting that more than 17 hours may have elapsed before evidence of the jail break was discovered.
Hallock said inmate access to the rooftop remained “one of many design flaws” of the detention center. Today, 70 percent of its inmates are accused felons.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas released a statement Tuesday calling Brown’s comments “inappropriate, uninformed and rash”.
“My first reaction was: Oh, my God, they let Hannibal Lecter out”, Brown said. He (Nayeri) is sophisticated, incredibly violent and cunning….
During that time, he also faced a series of charges involving burglary and drug possession and did stints in state prison. He added that they were not authorized by him or anyone in his office, and they don’t reflect the official position of prosecutors.
Nayeri, who served as a Marine, escaped from prison once before. His trial was set to begin February 23.
The three fugitives – who cut through steel bars, squeezed through plumbing ducts and rappelled off the roof – are described as “armed and dangerous” and have not been spotted since their Friday escape.
Felony escape charges were filed Monday against the three inmates, one – and possibly two – of whom are believed to be involved with Vietnamese gangs. Not all the people arrested are gang members and not all are suspected in the escape. Nayeri was scheduled to face a pre-trial hearing on February 2, 10 days after the escape. But authorities haven’t determined, for sure, that those responsible knew anything about (and, therefore, effectively aided) the escape.
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Nayeri fled to Iran and was arrested by authorities in Prague on his way to visit family.
