The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, FBI and U.S. Marshals are searching for three inmates who escaped from a Southern California maximum security jail Friday night by cutting through stel bars and rappelling from the roof of the facility with a jail-made rope. The three escapees, one of whom is charged with first degree murder, broke out of the Orange County Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana sometime between the last count at 5am on Friday until they were discovered missing at approximately 8pm that night.
At a news conference, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said,

“They also cut through plumbing tunnels and finally made it to an unguarded area of the roof where they were able to rappel to the ground using some kind of makeshift rope. It was very well-thought-out and planned.”

Reportedly, there was some sort of disturbance before the night count, which may have been a part of the escape plan because it delayed the discovery that the men were missing.

The escaped inmates are Jonathan Tieu ,20, Hossein Nayeri, 37 and Bac Duong, 43. Tieu was being held on $1 million since 2013 on murder and attempted murder charges. Nayeri was being held without bond since September of 2014 for kidnapping, torture and burglary of a weed dispensary owner in 2012. 43-year-old Bac Duong was being held without bond since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.

All men are considered armed and extremely dangerous.