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Search For 2 Remaining OC Jail Escapees Moves To Northern California

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — One down, two more to go. The search for two of the three inmates who escaped from Orange County Central Men's Jail has moved to Fresno and San Jose.

Authorities believe Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu spent the past two nights in room No. 14 at The Alameda Motel in San Jose.

The manager, who didn't want to go on camera, said a friend paid for the room in cash. And he saw a white van parked outside. But by checkout time Friday morning, the two fugitives, considered armed and dangerous, were gone. So was the van.

Investigators said Fresno and San Jose have large Vietnamese communities where people may be helping the men hide. Tieu is Vietnamese.

Nayeri lived in Fresno for a number of years. Detectives believe he has family and friends there.

Detectives believe the escapees are traveling in a 2008 white GMC Savana utility van stolen from South Los Angeles the day after the jailbreak.

Exactly a week after the jailbreak, the third inmate, Bac Duong, 43, unexpectedly surrendered to sheriff's deputies at Auto Electric Rebuilders in Santa Ana about 11:30 a.m Friday.

Tri Nguyen's wife, Theresa, who owns the engine repair shop, said Duong came in looking for her and wanted to turn surrender to police.

"Bac, for me, he's a good person and a good friend. I don't know how he play on the street. But for me, he's a good person," said Nguyen. "I saw a missed call from my wife. I call her back. And she said that Bac, he turned himself in. He came here, and he told my wife, called the cop, he want to turn himself in."

Nguyen told CBS2/KCAL'S's Michele Gile that the escapee appeared out of no where and had not been hiding out at the shop.

With guns drawn and scent hounds, a swarm of sheriff's deputies scoured the business looking for the two fugitives. Nayeri, Tieu and Duong escaped from the maximum-security jail in Santa Ana on Jan. 22 after cutting through layers of steel and metal.

The GMC van now possibly has tinted windows. "We believe the decals have been removed. It's most likely been outfitted with a paper plate," said Capt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

A jailhouse teacher deputies believe has a personal relationship with Nayeri has been booked on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony.

Nooshafarin Ravaghi, 44, of Lake Forest, is accused of providing planning tools to the inmates for their jailbreak.

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