One of the three inmates who escaped from a California jail last week has turned himself in, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens told reporters in Santa Ana.
Bac Tien Duong, 43, was taken into custody in Santa Ana on Friday morning.
Hutchens said Duong approached a citizen on the street just before noon and said he wanted to turn himself in.
Duong was the chief suspect in the theft of a white GMC van that was stolen on Saturday, one day after he escaped with Hossein Nayeri, 37, and Jonathan Tieu, 20.
Authorities are still looking for the van and the other two escapees.
The fugitives likely escaped after a 5 a.m. headcount last Friday but it wasn’t until more than 15 hours later that authorities discovered the sophisticated escape.
The inmates used tools to cut through security bars in a plumbing tunnel and into air vents. They also apparently used sheets braided into ropes to rappel down four to five stories — about 50 feet — from the roof of the jail.
Nooshafarin Ravaghi, 44, who taught English-as-a-second-language at the jail was arrested Thursday in connection with the escape.
Orange County Sheriff Lt. Jeff Hallock said earlier Friday that investigators knew of handwritten correspondence between Ravaghi and Nayeri.
He wouldn’t go into the content of the letters, or say who wrote to whom, or how investigators learned of the letters.
A law enforcement official close to the investigation told CNN’s Pamerla Brown that some of the writings appeared flirtatious.
Hallock told reporters the letters were personal.
When asked why Nayeri was taking an ESL class when he already spoke English well, Hallock said investigators are looking into the situation and also examining if the connection he and Navaghi have to Iran played a part.
Navaghi will be arraigned Monday. A bail hearing will be held then, and investigators will recommend bail of $500,000.
She will face a charge of being an accessory to a felony, Hallock said. It is unclear whether Navaghi has an attorney.
She has denied giving the escapees tools, but has admitted giving a Google Earth image, on paper, showing the area around the jail complex to Nayeri, according to Hallock.
Officials have said Navaghi passed a background check and also attended seminars about fraternizing with inmates.
Authorities have offered a $200,000 reward for information leading to the fugitives’ capture — $50,000 of which was designated for each escapee.
