A homeless San Francisco man who pointed police toward two Southern California jail escapees will get the lion's share of a $150,000 reward set up for their successful capture, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday.
The board awarded Matthew Hay-Chapman $100,000, said Jean Pasco, a county spokeswoman.
Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong escaped from Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana on Jan. 22 and were the subject of a statewide manhunt for days. Duong surrendered to police in Orange County on Jan. 27
Hay-Chapman, who has a habit of following the news closely, spotted Nayeri and Tieu the following day near Golden Gate Park. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chapman recounted how he happened upon the pair, near the McDonald's at Haight and Stanyan:
He was on his way into the fast-food restaurant 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.
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!’”
Hay-Chapman alerted police, who arrested both Sayeri and Tieu.