The man credited with helping San Francisco police capture a pair of Orange County jail escapees over the weekend is an unlikely hero. 
 
 Until recently, 55-year-old Matthew Hay-Chapman was living in the botanical garden of Golden Gate Park — homeless, depressed about a string of family tragedies and unable to work because of severe back pain. 
 
 Still, he managed to stay connected to the world. Every day, he would check out online news sites at the library or find a newspaper and read it front to back in the McDonald’s by the park. 
 
 It was his obsession with current events, along with his keen eye, that led him to spot the fugitives Saturday, hanging out down the block from a police station. As a result, Hay-Chapman is in line to collect $140,000 in reward money. 
 
 “When they told me about the benefits, that didn’t matter,” Chapman said Tuesday in front of the McDonald’s at Haight and Stanyan streets, still proudly wearing the black hoodie that San Francisco police gave him as thanks for his assistance. “I was just doing the right thing.” 
 
 Hay-Chapman had already escaped living in the park, having befriended a man who lets him sleep on his couch. Now he hopes to use the reward money not just to rebuild his own life, but also to help a troubled son, disabled daughter and two young grandchildren who are in foster care in Oregon. 
 
 Life turmoil 
 
 Hay-Chapman hasn’t always been one wrong step from the streets. He was raised on military bases all over the world, one of 10 children of an Air Force colonel. Two of his eight brothers are in law enforcement. 
 
 Before his life fell apart, Hay-Chapman worked as a carpenter, as a heating and air conditioning installer, as a vault locksmith and as a hotel night manager. Then came the back pain, brought on by lifting something in 2000. It got so bad he couldn’t work. 
 
 His daughter, now 33, suffered a brain hemorrhage at birth and is severely disabled. His 30-year-old son lost custody of his two children because of struggles with drug addiction. 
 
 ‘Ups and downs’ 
 
 His family said Hay-Chapman has trouble staying on a steady course, but did not have a drug or alcohol problem. 
 
 “He’s had his ups and downs,” said his brother John Hay-Chapman, “He is a jack of all trades — he is a good mechanic. ... But he can be irresponsible too, and his troubles came when he followed the wrong road.” 
 
 He added, “But here is the thing about Matt: He is sharp, he reads the paper and he is up on everything.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Image 1 of 5 Matthew Hay-Chapman enters Golden Gate Park in front of the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 near the location where two Orange County jail escapees were apprehended after he recognized the fugitives and pointed them out to police last Saturday. less Matthew Hay-Chapman enters Golden Gate Park in front of the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 near the location where two Orange County jail ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 2 of 5 Matthew Hay-Chapman returns to the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 to describe how he spotted two of the Orange County jail escapees last Saturday and pointed them out to police, resulting in their capture. less Matthew Hay-Chapman returns to the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 to describe how he spotted two of the Orange County jail escapees last ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 3 of 5 Matthew Hay-Chapman crosses Stanyan Street in front of the McDonald's restaurant at Haight Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 after describing how he recognized two of the Orange County jail escapees last Saturday and pointed them out to police, resulting in their capture. less Matthew Hay-Chapman crosses Stanyan Street in front of the McDonald's restaurant at Haight Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 after describing how he recognized two of the Orange County ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 4 of 5 Matthew Hay-Chapman returns to the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 to describe how he spotted two of the Orange County jail escapees last Saturday and pointed them out to police, resulting in their capture. less Matthew Hay-Chapman returns to the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 to describe how he spotted two of the Orange County jail escapees last ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 5 of 5 Matthew Hay-Chapman returns to the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 to describe how he spotted two of the Orange County jail escapees last Saturday and pointed them out to police, resulting in their capture. less Matthew Hay-Chapman returns to the McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 to describe how he spotted two of the Orange County jail escapees last ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Hard-luck hero helped police nab dangerous escapees 1 / 5 Back to Gallery 
 
 Matthew Hay-Chapman and his friend regularly go to the McDonald’s at the entrance of the park — and it was there, on Saturday, that Hay-Chapman was at the right place at the right time. 
 
 He was on his way into the fast-food restaurant when when he spotted a white 2008 GMC Savana van parked at the side of the Whole Foods Market on Haight. It looked like the one he used to drive when he worked as a mechanic — and then lived in when times got hard. 
 
 Recognized van 
 
 Because he’s a news junkie and has what he calls a photographic memory, Hay-Chapman realized that the van matched one that had been linked to three men who had been on the run since they escaped from the Orange County jail Jan. 22. 
 
 “I noticed the windows were all steamed up — real heavy condensation,” Hay-Chapman said. He figured someone was living inside. 
 
 Suddenly, “boom, this guy pops out of the van. I had seen him in the news,” Hay-Chapman said. “I said, ‘That’s the guy — that’s the Iranian escapee!’” 
 
 He followed the man, 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, into the McDonald’s. Nayeri got in a line that was six people deep, while Hay-Chapman sat down at a table. 
 
 Photo: Associated Press This undated photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff's... 
 
 “I knew I had time,” Hay-Chapman said. “I studied the man ... because I wanted to be 100 percent sure before I go and alert the authorities.” 
 
 Once he was sure, he slipped outside. After a passerby refused to let him use a cell phone, he headed for the nearby Park police station. 
 
 Before he got there, a patrol car with two officers in it happened by. Hay-Chapman flagged them down with his metal cane. 
 
 The officers were about to confront Nayeri when a man on the street suddenly collapsed into the arms of one of them. As the police called for paramedics, Hay-Chapman kept watch for Nayeri, who soon emerged from McDonald’s with a cup of coffee. 
 
 ‘Last taste of freedom’ 
 
 “I call it his last taste of freedom,” Hay-Chapman said. “McDonald’s coffee is worth a lot, and he paid for it.” 
 
 With the officers preoccupied with the man who had collapsed, Nayeri “walked calmly past me, calmly with his coffee,” Hay-Chapman said. He watched as the fugitive walked down the restaurant’s steps and crouched between two parked vehicles. 
 
 “Now he pops up and he starts to walk calmly across Stanyan,” Hay-Chapman said. After a few feet, “he bolts and he runs into the park. Man, the guy was running right toward the police station.” 
 
 The officers fanned out and eventually caught up with Nayeri in front of the station. When they returned to the van, a second fugitive, 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, was still in it. 
 
 Photo: Associated Press This undated booking photo provided by the Orange County, Calif.,... 
 
 Nayeri, who had been held on aggravated mayhem, kidnapping and torture charges, and Tieu, who was facing gang-related murder and attempted-murder charges, were returned to authorities in Orange County. The third fugitive, Bac Duong, 43, had turned himself in Friday in Santa Ana. 
 
 “Would that every citizen would be paying that much attention,” said Police Chief Greg Suhr, who confirmed Hay-Chapman’s pivotal role in the capture. “God bless him for having courage and for being that observant and that sharp. 
 
 “It is pretty amazing,” Suhr said of Hay-Chapman’s story. “He makes the neighborhood safer.” 
 
 Orange County sheriff’s officials say they will work with agencies that offered separate rewards — including the county Board of Supervisors, U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI — to deliver the money where it belongs. 
 
 Hay-Chapman figures it’s his time. 
 
 “When I was down and out, nobody wanted to help me out,” he said. He hopes that because he was “brave enough to stand up” on Saturday, the money will lead to a better life for him and his family. 
 
 Friend’s point of view 
 
 The friend who finally did help him said Hay-Chapman deserves every penny coming to him. 
 
 “He is really a straight-up guy,” said the friend, who asked that his name not be used. “He is a guy who is into doing good things for people even though he is homeless. 
 
 “He did what he was supposed to do, what people are asked to do. That money would help him straighten his life out.” 
 
 Jaxon Van Derbeken is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 Three Orange County inmates who escaped from jail in Santa Ana kidnapped a taxi driver at gunpoint, forcing him to stay with them for a week and eventually travel with them to San Jose, authorities said Monday. 
 
 Two of the inmates -- 43-year-old Bac Duong and Hossein Nayeri, 37 -- got into a physical fight over whether the taxi driver should be killed and his body buried, Orange County Sheriff's Department Capt. Jeff Hallock said at a news conference. 
 
 While Nayeri and the third inmate, 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, were away from the San Jose motel room where the group holed up, Duong left with the taxi driver. The latter two drove back to Southern California, and Duong turned himself in the next day. 
 
 The taxi driver not injured and was helping investigators, Hallock said. 
 
 "At this point, we're viewing him as a victim of a kidnapping," the captain said. 
 
 The activities of the fugitives following their Jan. 22 escape from Module F of the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana were described at an 11 a.m. news conference. 
 
 Hallock laid out a timeline that began with the three inmates' being placed in jail custody. The escape plan had been developed over six months, beginning in July 2015, when Nayeri and Tieu were in jail, Hallock said. Duong did not arrive at the Men's Central Jail till Dec. 5, 2015. 
 
 They escaped at 5 a.m., 15 minutes after an inmate count at the jail. They were quickly picked up by an accomplice and driven to a house in Westminster. 
 
 Then they traveled between several different homes in Westminster, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach before taking a taxi that night to a Target store in Rosemead, where they bought clothes. 
 
 About 11:30 p.m., "Duong puts a gun to the taxi driver's ribcage and tells him he's coming with them," Hallock said. 
 
 It's not clear where the four men stayed that night, but the next day, Duong stole a van listed on Craigslist in Los Angeles, and the inmates had their hairstyles changed at an El Monte hair salon, Hallock said. 
 
 For the three following nights, while the Sheriff's Department asked for help finding the escapees, they and the taxi driver stayed at the Flamingo Inn in Rosemead. 
 
 On Tuesday, Jan. 26, after mailing a letter from Garden Grove to Tieu's mother -- as a distraction ruse -- the men and the taxi driver drove to San Jose, taking both the van and the taxi, Hallock said. 
 
 The next day, while the group stayed at the Alameda Motel in San Jose, Nayeri and Duong had a physical fight over the taxi driver's fate. Then, on Thursday, Jan. 28, Nayeri and Tieu took the van to get its windows tinted. 
 
 While they were gone, Duong and the taxi driver took the taxi back to Rosemead, where the two men spent the night. 
 
 The next day, the driver took Duong to Santa Ana, where the escapee surrendered. The driver later contacted the Sheriff's Department. 
 
 Duong approached a family member's automotive business and said he wanted to turn himself in. Police were called and he was taken into custody without incident. 
 
 Then, on Saturday morning, San Francisco police arrested Nayeri and Tieu. At a Whole Foods Market parking lot, a man recognized the white van investigators had described and alerted nearby officers. 
 
 As police approached, Nayeri ran on foot but was quickly captured. Tieu was found hiding inside the van. 
 
 No weapon has been recovered, and so far it does not appear that the men had more than one firearm, Hallock said, noting that many questions about the escape remain. 
 
 Hallock said no evidence points to the inmates' having any help from sheriff's staff, and an internal administrative investigation into the escape was ongoing. 
 
 "It's something we're not proud of. We're embarrassed," Hallock said. "We feel like we let the public down." 
 
 The three men were being held in isolation cells and will require handcuffs, leg chains and a two-deputy escort any time they’re moved around jail, Hallock said. 
 
 "They've been less than cooperative," the captain said. 
 
 One of the roughly 10 people who were detained during the manhunt -- Loc Ba Nguyen -- has been charged with multiple crimes, including smuggling weapons into correction facility and aiding in a prisoner's escape, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said. 
 
 Hallock could not say how Nguyen smuggled items to prisoners, saying that was under investigation. Nguyen was linked to Duong, Hallock said. 
 
 Nguyen was believed to have picked the men up, according to Hallock. 
 
 The man who spotted the van in San Francisco will be eligible for a reward, which had grown to $200,000, Hallock said. 
 
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– A homeless San Francisco man who calls himself a "news junkie" might be able to get off the streets because of his news habit: He will receive the lion's share of a $150,000 reward for helping recapture two escaped inmates in January, the Los Angeles Times reports. Matthew Hay-Chapman recognized the inmates' stolen van in a Whole Foods parking lot on Jan. 28 and spotted fugitive Hossein Nayeri emerging from the vehicle. He says he found a police officer and led him to the van, leading to the capture of Nayeri and fellow escapee Jonathan Tieu. A third man had surrendered a day earlier. Hay-Chapman, 55, was living in Golden Gate Park at the time of the arrests but says he still kept track of the news every day by going online or reading newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Orange County Board of Supervisors decided to award him $100,000 of the $150,000 cash reward for the inmates' recapture, with $20,000 going to the owner of the stolen van, and two employees who spotted the escapees acting suspiciously at a Target store receiving $15,000 each. A cab driver kidnapped and almost murdered by the escapees, however, won't get a share of the reward money because the supervisors decided that he had not provided information that led to the men's recapture.