Jonathan Tieu, Bac Duong and Hossein Nayeri escaped from the jail sometime after 5 a.m. Friday, following the first of two physical inmate counts that are conducted each day. 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. 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. “You don’t want an escape from any jail; it’s not a good day. 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. The Sheriff’s Department released new photos of Bac Duong on Wednesday that showed his gang tattoos. 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.
– 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.