Escaped California Inmates Fought Over Plan to Murder Hostage Cab Driver: Police

Three of Orange County’s most dangerous inmates seemed on the verge of freedom after a daring escape last month until a fight over whether to murder a cab driver they allegedly kidnapped tore them apart, investigators announced Monday.

According to details of the escape released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department today, the three inmates Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong, picked up a cab in Santa Ana and headed to a Target store in Rosemead, where they took the driver hostage at gunpoint within 24 hours of their escape. Investigators believe the three holed up in the Flamingo Inn in Rosemead while visiting a hairdresser and running other errands to change their appearance.

During that time, the trio stole a van advertised on Craig’s List and drove the stolen cab and van to Garden Grove to mail a letter to Tieu’s mother in an effort to throw investigators off their trail, said Orange County Sheriff’s Captain Jeff Hallock.

From there, they headed north, staying at the Alameda Motel in San Jose. It was there that the trio reportedly split ways in violent fashion. According to Hallock, Nayeri and Duong came to blows over whether to to kill the cab driver and bury him. Nayeri, who was originally incarcerated on charges of kidnapping and torture after a marijuana dispensary owner he allegedly left to die in the desert survived, wanted to kill and bury the cabbie, according to police.

When Nayeri and Tieu left the hotel to get the stolen van’s windows tinted, Duong reportedly took the cab driver back to Rosemead before turning himself into police in Santa Ana.

Duong was arrested Friday in the 1400 block of North Harbor Boulevard. He walked into a business called Auto Electric Rebuilders, which is owned by an acquaintance of Duong, and said he wanted to surrender. The business owner’s wife called 911, and sheriff’s deputies responded and arrested Duong.

Officers from the San Francisco Police Department’s Park District station were on an unrelated medical aid call in the area when a man approached the officers and pointed out a white van in the parking lot Saturday.

“Officers approached the van as Hossein Nayeri fled the area on foot,” said Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens. “A short foot pursuit ensued before Nayeri was taken into custody.”

Officers immediately returned to the white van, Hutchens said, and discovered Tieu hiding inside. Officers then confirmed that the vehicle was the same white GMC Savana van stolen last week, she said. Hutchens said “a number” of .380 ammunition rounds were found inside the van, but no weapon was recovered.

All three inmates are now back at the Orange County jail, but several mysteries still surround their escape. Authorities announced plans to charge a second person with aiding the escape, while letting a jail teacher charged last week go free. An apparent rift between sheriff’s investigators and the Orange County District Attorney’s office emerged Monday over the teacher’s role.

Nooshafarin Ravaghi, 44, of Lake Forest, was arrested Thursday for allegedly providing materials such as Google Earth aerial maps of the jail complex to one of the inmates -- Nayeri, 37, of Newport Beach. Nayeri took English classes from Ravaghi at the jail, and sheriff’s officials said he developed a close relationship with the teacher.

Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said Ravaghi will be released on her own recognizance, although authorities plan to hold her passport to ensure she does not leave the country.

“She’s being cooperative,” Rackauckas said. “She has every reason to stay.”

Citing insufficient evidence against her, Rackauckas said it was unfortunate that Ravaghi has been publicly characterized as having helped the inmates escape after developing a personal relationship with Nayeri.

The district attorney said, however, that another man -- Loc Ba Nguyen -- is expected to be charged with assisting the escape by smuggling tools and other materials used in the escape into the jail. His relationship with the inmates wasn’t immediately clear. Rackauckas said he was not an inmate or employee of the jail.

City News Service contributed to this report.