County Supervisor Defends Tax Paid Trip to Deliver Reward for Escaped Inmates

By PAUL ANDERSON

SANTA ANA, CA - Taxpayers spent a total of $2,615.23 to send four Orange County representatives to San Francisco to hand off a $100,000 reward check to a transient who helped authorities collar the alleged ringleader of a daring jail break, records obtained today show.

Now I won't be just a broken-down, depressed grandpa on Social Security says Matthew Hay-Chapman. https://t.co/HJyVmaFGYx

— anderstacey (@anderstacey) March 22, 2016

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer billed the county $519.15 for expenses related to his trip up north March 17 to personally hand off the check to Matthew Hay-Chapman.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department, which sent two investigators and a member of its public relations department on the trip, filed $2,096.08 in expenses, according to records City News Service obtained through a public records request.

Spitzer defended his role in passing on the reward in response to criticism earlier this week from Supervisor Shawn Nelson, who questioned why it took four people to do the job.

Spitzer said three other people who got rewards for their help in tracking down the three Orange County Jail escapees came to the supervisor's office to sign the paperwork and get their checks.

Target employees Hazel Javier and Jeffrey Arana received $15,000 apiece for their help with the capture of the trio, and Armando Damien, who had his van stolen from one of the suspects, received $20,000.

But more work was required to get Hay-Chapman his funds because he was homeless and did not wish to come to Orange County to get his money, Spitzer said.

RELATED: 'Ridiculous' It Took 4 People to Deliver Jail Escape Reward to Bay Area Man, Says County Supervisor

"I personally delivered the money to all of the rewardees," he said. "The ones who were local came to my office and we easily handled it. Matthew was a special case because of his refusal to come here, difficulty in finding him and communicating with him."

Spitzer said Hay-Chapman read about the reward money in the news and contacted the supervisor's office. Spitzer's staff then gave the transient the supervisor's cell phone number.

Spitzer said he had a tough time returning the transient's message because his phone service was shut off, and Hay-Chapman's son in Oregon also did not know how else to get in touch with his father.

Spitzer said Orange County sheriff's employees were able to help track down Hay-Chapman with help from San Francisco police, and they arranged a meeting to hand off the check.

The two investigators drove up to San Francisco. Their pay was $1,405.08 and they billed the county $43.99 for food and $81.05 for fuel.

Ray Grangoff, a government relations manager for the sheriff's public relations unit, was reimbursed $20 for parking, $69 for his per deim allotment and $476.96 for airfare.

Spitzer billed taxpayers $519.15 for his plane fare and other expenses such as an Uber ride, breakfast, coffee and a bottle of orange juice from McDonald's. Spitzer said it was the same McDonald's visited by one of the escaped inmates and that it was in such a seedy neighborhood that a security guard is posted there and won't let anyone but customers use the restroom, so Spitzer bought a bottle of juice.

Spitzer told CNS that he was the brainchild of the reward offer for information leading to the arrest of the escaped inmates. He said he followed through with personally handing off the checks because he was frustrated about how in other cases reward money ends up in litigation and protracted bureaucratic battles.

"I've been utterly frustrated how they offer reward money and then these witnesses sit around and wait and litigate," Spitzer said. "I'm sick of it. To me, this is a significant issue about government promising to reward money and then government basically stabbing witnesses in the back."

Spitzer said he personally stood by Hay-Chapman as he set up a bank account to deposit his reward money. The supervisor vowed to keep in touch with Hay-Chapman and to help make sure he doesn't squander his reward.

Spitzer also bought lunch for everyone on the trip and Hay-Chapman, but said he paid for the meals out of his campaign fund.

Auditor-Controller Eric Woolery required that sheriff's officials deliver the check, Spitzer said. Since the investigators work in pairs, that explains why two deputies were on the trip, the supervisor said, but he questioned why Grangoff, from the sheriff's PR team, was there.

Sheriff's Lt. Mark Stichter, a department spokesman, said "Mr. Chapman had a very good relationship with our office, and we wanted to make sure we put him at ease with receiving the money."

Hay-Chapman "knew our names and knew who we were," Stichter said. "He did not necessarily know who the investigators were."

Spitzer questioned whether his board colleague Nelson understood the "complexities" of contacting Hay-Chapman.

"Shawn Nelson is not one for the kind of the soft touch," Spitzer said. "He probably doesn't really care whether Matthew gets a check.

"Shawn is a very sterile guy. He'll give him the money and say that's all we did. You don't need to do anything else," Spitzer added. "I don't look at the world that way. I wanted this guy to know how much we appreciate him and shake his hand and let him know what he did for Orange County."

Nelson's response: "We offered a reward, not friendship."

Hay-Chapman tipped San Francisco police when he recognized a white van that authorities suspected was stolen by the escaped inmates.

Hay-Chapman also spotted escapee Hossein Nayeri emerge from the van and walk into a McDonald's restaurant. Officers quickly snatched up Nayeri and then found another of the escapees, Jonathan Tieu, in the van.

Nelson suggested that the reward money could have been wired to San Francisco police, who could have delivered the funds to Hay-Chapman and helped him set up a bank account.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified a $69 per diem allotment as money spent on food.

City News Service