Authorities have made several arrests in connection with the ongoing search for three inmates who escaped from the Orange County Men’s Central Jail last week, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens announced Wednesday afternoon.
“We have made around five arrests and we are going to continue making additional arrests throughout this evening,” Hutchens said at a late-afternoon press conference, held in front of the maximum-security facility in Santa Ana. She declined to disclose any further details about the arrestees or how they were taken into custody.
The announcement came as the manhunt continued for Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, who absconded from the jail sometime Friday.
As part of the search for the trio, sheriff’s investigators were focusing on a Vietnamese gang that was active in Westminster and Garden Grove, Hutchens said.
Tieu — whom authorities have described as a “documented gang member” — is a former resident of the Little Saigon neighborhood, which straddles both cities; Duong was a Vietnamese national who entered the U.S. legally in 1991, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I do believe they had outside help,” the sheriff told reporters Wednesday, declining to elaborate.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect age for Jonathan Tieu. The post has been updated.