Five people were arrested Wednesday, suspected of helping three inmates escape from Orange County Central Men’s Jail. 
 
 Although the three fugitives remained at large, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said in a televised news conference that she believes the five people arrested are part of a larger group that helped in the escape. Their names have not been released, and Hutchens said more arrests are expected during the next two days. 
 
 Hutchens also has not ruled out the possibility that the escapees had help from people inside the system. An investigation into that question is ongoing. 
 
 Hutchens described the three fugitives – Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong – as “armed and dangerous” and said authorities still have no sightings of the men. A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to their arrests. 
 
 The men escaped Friday, cutting through barriers (one barrier was one-inch steel, the sheriff said), squeezing through plumbing ducts and rappelling off the roof. 
 
 “It’s every sheriff’s nightmare,” Hutchens said. “You don’t want an escape from any jail; it’s not a good day. There’s not a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department ... that does not feel like we let the public down.” 
 
 Earlier in the day, Hutchens visited Little Saigon, appealing for help within the community. Tieu and Duong have connections to Vietnamese gangs. 
 
 Later, in the news conference outside the jail, the sheriff said some of the suspects arrested are gang members. But she offered no details of the arrests. A department spokesman said later that revealing the names of those arrested would compromise the investigation. 
 
 The Sheriff’s Department released new photos of Bac Duong on Wednesday that showed his gang tattoos. 
 
 The escape has prompted changes at the jail, including the way deputies count prisoners, Hutchens said. The men escaped sometime after the 5 a.m. head count Friday and were not noticed missing until a second head count that evening. 
 
 Hutchens described Nayeri, who is charged in a 2012 kidnap and torture case, as the escape’s likely “mastermind,” saying he is more sophisticated than Tieu and Duong. 
 
 On Monday, a deputy district attorney said Nayeri is “diabolical” and compared him to movie villain Hannibal Lecter. Heather Brown, who is prosecuting the case against Nayeri, said jail officials were warned that Nayeri deserved special attention. The District Attorney’s Office later called those comments “inappropriate, uninformed and rash.” 
 
 Hutchens on Wednesday defended the Sheriff Department’s handling of Nayeri. 
 
 “We house based on behavior, and there were no issues with any of these individuals while in our custody,” Hutchens said. “(Nayeri) was housed in an appropriate area of the jail.” 
 
 The Central Men’s Jail, built in 1968, has had 16 escapes over the decades. Hutchens described it as “old” and “high-maintenance” and noted that at the time it opened, 70 percent of its inmates were charged with misdemeanors and 30 percent with felonies. Today, she said, the ratio is flipped. 
 
 She pointed out that the jail, including the dormitory-style module where the escape began, is short on modern technology. 
 
 “Do we continue to put money into an old jail?” the sheriff asked. “I think there are some technologies that we can invest in.” 
 
 Authorities have set up a hotline for anyone who has information about the case: 714-628-7085. ||||| Sorry, your browser doesn't support Flash , needs a Flash update , or has Flash disabled. You need Flash to watch this video. 
 
 Authorities released new images of Bac Duong, 43, and his tattoos on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. 
 
 Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said five arrests were made Wednesday in connection with three inmates who escaped the Orange County Central Men's Jail.Hutchens did not say what was the connection to the inmates, but said authorities are hitting area gang members, specifically a Vietnamese gang in Westminster and Garden Grove. During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, she said more arrests would be made in the evening and into Thursday morning.No further details on the connected arrests were released so as not to compromise the investigation.Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, were all awaiting trial for various violent crimes before they escaped the jail on Friday.The trio were last accounted for at 5 a.m. and their disappearance wasn't noticed until 16 hours later when an evening count was conducted. Hutchens said five counts are conducted at the jail throughout the day.When Hutchens first discovered the escape, she said it was "every sheriff's nightmare.""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.As a result of the escape, Hutchens said the department is looking into the policies and procedures conducted at the jail to prevent any future attempts.She added that she, along with other investigators, believe the inmates escaped with help from outside of the jail. Investigators are also looking into whether there was any help from inside the facility.Hutchens said she believes Nayeri, who faces charges such as kidnapping and torture, is the mastermind behind the elaborate escape plan based on his military background.Nayeri had been in custody since September 2014 after he had been extradited back into the U.S. from Iran . During a court hearing that same month, prosecutors suspected Nayeri broke into a marijuana dispensary owner's Newport Beach home, kidnapped the man, tortured him and severed his penis.Tieu, who is a documented gang member, faces charges for murder and attempted murder among other charges. He was held on a $1 million bail and had been in custody since October 2013.New images of Duong, another documented gang member, and his tattoos were released during the press conference to further assist the public in identifying him.Duong faced charges for crimes such as attempted murder and possession of a firearm. He was arrested in December 2015 and held without bail due to an immigration hold. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were unable to deport Duong because his country of origin would not accept him, according to Hutchens.Authorities said the inmates cut through 1/2-inch-thick steel bars and plumbing tunnels to gain access to the unsecured roof , which is used for recreational purposes. There, all three men used sheets to rappel to the ground and flee on foot.Hutchens said she and investigators believe the tools were professional and not made in jail because of the clean incisions made to the steel bars.Since Friday, sheriff's deputies served at least 30 warrants in the investigation into their escape. A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the inmates' arrests.Anyone with information on the inmates' whereabouts was urged to call the Orange County Sheriff's Department hotline at (714)628-7085. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227. ||||| Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is all smiles as she answers questions about the capture of both outstanding jail escapees Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu are in the custody of the San Francisco... (Associated Press) 
 
 Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is all smiles as she answers questions about the capture of both outstanding jail escapees Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu are in the custody of the San Francisco... (Associated Press) 
 
 SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Three inmates planned their escape from a California jail for at least six months then abducted a taxi driver and drove to Northern California, where two of the fugitives argued about killing him, authorities said Monday. 
 
 Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Hallock also said the inmates were picked up by an accomplice shortly after they escaped on Jan. 22 from Central Men's Jail in Orange County. 
 
 Later that day, inmate Hossein Nayeri held a gun on a taxi driver, who spent two nights with the fugitives in Southern California before they stole a van and drove north, Hallock said. 
 
 Nayeri and inmate Bac Duong then had a physical fight in an Alameda hotel room over whether to kill the taxi driver, he said. Sheriff's officials believe Nayeri is the one who wanted to kill the driver, Hallock said. 
 
 Duong and the taxi driver returned the next day to Santa Ana, where Duong later surrendered. 
 
 Earlier Monday, prosecutors said a teacher who was arrested in connection with the escape would be released due to insufficient evidence to charge her with any crime. 
 
 Prosecutors have requested that the county Sheriff's Department conduct further investigation of Nooshafarin Ravaghi, 44, who teaches English as a second language to jail inmates, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said. 
 
 Sheriff Sandra Hutchens later told reporters that investigators still believe Ravaghi was involved. 
 
 Rackauckas also announced the arrest of Lac Ba Nguyen on suspicion of sending into prison an article useful for an escape. Prosecutors didn't elaborate on the article or say how it might have been used. 
 
 Nguyen provided the inmates with "things that facilitated the escape" and picked them up shortly after they escaped, Hallock said. 
 
 Nayeri, 37, Duong, 43, and Jonathan Tieu, 20, escaped Central Men's Jail. Duong turned himself in Friday and the other two were arrested in San Francisco on Saturday. 
 
 The Sheriff's Department had initially said Ravaghi and Nayeri, who was in her class, had exchanged letters of a personal nature. Rackauckas said Monday that the letters appear to have been written by Nayeri, not Ravaghi. 
 
 The district attorney said Ravaghi was continuing to cooperate and that steps were being taken to ensure she remains in the jurisdiction after her release. 
 
 Nguyen is due in court Feb. 22. It's not immediately known if he has an attorney. 
 
 With all three inmates back in custody, authorities were examining how they carried out the jailbreak and what they did during their week on the run. 
 
 The sheriff vowed over the weekend to fix the security lapses that allowed the escape. 
 
 The men sawed, crawled and climbed their way out of the maximum-security jail and used a rope made of bedsheets to rappel four stories to the ground. 
 
 The trio then spent several days in Rosemead, a Los Angeles suburb, where they held the cab driver at gunpoint, Hallock said. 
 
 The three then drove to Northern California in a stolen van and the taxi, taking the cabbie with them, he said. 
 
 Duong surrendered on Friday at an auto repair shop in Santa Ana just a few miles from the jail. After dropping Duong off, the cabbie immediately reported what had happened. 
 
 Nayeri and Tieu were arrested Saturday after a civilian flagged down officers near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and pointed out a parked van that looked like one believed stolen by the inmates after the escape. 
 
 The three inmates did not know each other before being housed in the Orange County jail. They were awaiting trial on charges involving violent crimes. 
 
 Duong and Tieu have ties to gangs that operate in the shadows of Orange County's thriving Vietnamese community. 
 
 While behind bars, the three were housed together in a large jail module that held 65 other men, about half of whom were in custody for violent felonies. 
 
 Ravaghi had been booked on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony. The Sheriff's Department had said she provided Nayeri a paper copy of a Google Earth map that showed an aerial view of the entire jail compound. 
 
 Nayeri is a former Marine who grew up in the Fresno area, and authorities say it's unclear why as an English speaker he was in her class that teaches English as a second language. 
 
 Built in 1968, the jail that housed the men holds about 900 inmates. It was the first breakout from the facility in nearly 30 years.
– Police have arrested five suspected gang members in connection with the escape of three prisoners last week from the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The fugitives, however, remain at large. When announcing the arrests Wednesday, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens did not identify the men or say what charges they face, the Los Angeles Times reports. She did say, according to the Orange County Register, that more arrests were expected overnight and into Thursday, adding that there's a possibility guards or other jail employees may have provided "inside help" to the escapees. Since the Friday escape, deputies have served some 30 warrants, ABC7 reports. A $200,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the escapees. More from Hutchens' press conference: Those arrested in connection to the escape were affiliated with the same street gang as 20-year-old fugitive Jonathan Tieu, knew the escaped inmates, or were arrested on probation violations. Hutchens believes Hossein Nayeri, 37, was the "mastermind" of the escape. Authorities have not recovered the tools used, and Hutchens believes the escapees would have needed help getting their hands on them. ("It's not something we think could have occurred with a jail-made shank, if you will.") "It's every sheriff's nightmare," Hutchens said of the escape, which has sparked criticism over how inmates are housed at the nearly 50-year-old jail. Nayeri, Tieu, and Bac Duong, 43, were not noticed missing for some 16 hours. Hutchens says she has made changes to the way inmates are counted throughout the day, per the Register. She also defended the decision to house the escapees in a dormitory instead of individual cells, the Times reports. "We house based on behavior, and there were no issues … while they were in our custody," she says.