SANTA ANA, California— Video shot with a contraband cellphone shows the escape of three inmates from a maximum-security wing of a Southern California jail last year, as well as scenes from their days on the run.
Los Angeles news station KNBC-TV (https://bit.ly/2vH3RHx ), which aired the footage Tuesday, said it was provided by attorneys connected to the case, and not by prosecutors.
The heavily edited video has a pop music soundtrack and includes TV news clips about the escape and manhunt. It also contains voice-overs by one of the men, recorded after their capture, giving his version of events and railing against the legal system.
One clip shows the inside of the maximum security dorm room, known as Module F, at the jail in Santa Ana. How the inmates got the cellphones and were able to record in jail is not clear.
“You know, a lot of people like to credit us with some Houdini escape act all in eight minutes flat. It’s an interesting myth,” says Adam Hossein Nayeri in voiceover to the video. “In reality we did leave that mod after count. Not the one they’re claiming though. I left that module at least eight hours earlier the night before.”
Inmates in the cramped dorm seem to know Nayeri is recording, but do not react, except for fellow escapee Bac Duong, who flashes a grin.
The video then shows the escape.
Nayeri carefully lifts a sawed-off bunk bed leg, exposing a previously cut metal screen on a wall. The screen is set aside as he disappears into a vent.
The trio crawls through shafts within the walls. At one point Nayeri stops and gives a thumbs-up. Jonathan Tieu squints as the light of the cellphone is shined on his face.
The inmates eventually reach the roof of the Orange County Jail, with downtown Santa Ana in the background.
The video does not show how the inmates got to the ground. Previous reports said they rappelled down using bed linens. On the video, Nayeri says they had industrial rope, a toolbox, a duffel bag and new clothes.
The next clips show the men taking turns posing at the corner of Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. There are scenes from inside a white van where they were sleeping.
“This is our casa for the moment. This is our crib. Water, all the basics,” Nayeri says. “Friday night in San Francisco, a special Friday night in San Francisco.”
A marijuana pipe is flashed. They hold up a bottle of Jack Daniels.
The men led authorities on a weeklong manhunt before they were recaptured.
The video does not show their recapture. Instead, Nayeri narrates the final two minutes of the edited video.
“We scared a lot of people and caused a lot of anxiety and fear and at the end of the day I can’t say I feel good about that. I can’t.”
In another section, Nayeri refers to Long Ma, the taxi driver they are charged with kidnapping, and who drove them north.
“This man is truly a hero,” Nayeri says. “He just radiated this calm fatherly presence.”
Photos show Ma with Tieu on a beach, appearing to pose for the camera.
Lt. Lane Lagaret, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, told KNBC-TV that the footage is part of an ongoing investigation and is consistent with information OCSD has supplied verbally to the media.
“We will not provide additional comment on a video narrative that seeks to make light of criminal actions,” he said.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said it would be inappropriate to comment on the video because the case is in litigation.