S.F. police arrest 2 fugitives near Golden Gate Park

Officer Grace Gatpandan describes how SFPD caught and arrested two fugitives near a McDonald's restaurant at the corner of Haight and Stanyan in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2016. The two men escaped from an Orange County prison and fled before being caught in San Francisco. less Officer Grace Gatpandan describes how SFPD caught and arrested two fugitives near a McDonald's restaurant at the corner of Haight and Stanyan in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2016. The two men escaped from an ... more Photo: Josh Edelson, JOSH EDELSON / SAN FRANCISCO CHR Photo: Josh Edelson, JOSH EDELSON / SAN FRANCISCO CHR Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close S.F. police arrest 2 fugitives near Golden Gate Park 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

The massive manhunt after an Orange County jailbreak ended Saturday morning when San Francisco police chased down one of the fugitives in Golden Gate Park and found the other hiding in a van parked outside a Whole Foods Market on Haight Street.

Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu — who police believe came to San Francisco on Friday night after their Jan. 22 rooftop escape— were arrested just before 9 a.m. with the help of a resident, police said.

The unidentified tipster flagged down two officers — who were responding to a medical call in the area of Stanyan and Haight streets — and told them that he recognized the stolen van and the fugitives. He “had seen them on TV,” Police Chief Greg Suhr said.

When the officers approached one suspect near Waller and Stanyan streets, “the chase was on,” Suhr said, with the suspect, later identified as Nayeri, running toward Kezar Stadium, and, unbeknownst to him, Park Police Station, next door to the stadium.

Nayeri was quickly apprehended with no further incident, police said. Nayeri, who had been held on aggravated mayhem, kidnapping and torture charges in Orange County before the escape, has a history of escape attempts, authorities said.

Ammunition in van

When police went back to investigate the van, parked on Haight Street near Stanyan, they discovered Tieu — who had been held on gang-related murder and attempted murder charges before his escape — hiding inside. He was taken into custody without incident, police said.

According to Orange County sheriff’s officials, police found ammunition but no guns in the van. San Francisco police said they spotted several rounds of .380-caliber ammunition and were conducting a more thorough search of the van late Saturday.

Police had been warned of the escaped inmates’ possible connection to the city, Suhr said in a statement, and officers had been told to be on the lookout for them.

“This is a great example of the public seeing something, saying something, and now we have the two armed and dangerous criminals in custody,” Suhr said. “You really can’t draw it up any better than this.”

Nayeri, 37, and Tieu, 20, were among three men who escaped from a four-story jail building in Santa Ana on Jan. 22 by cutting through a metal grate and rappelling down the side of the building on a rope made of bed linens.

The third man, Bac Duong, 43, turned himself in Friday in Santa Ana and told police that all three men had been in the Bay Area. They may have stayed one night at a motel in San Jose.

San Francisco police had been alerted to the two remaining fugitives being in the city Friday.

They had set up surveillance on a residence in the Richmond District, but the two men apparently had come and gone from there before officers arrived.

It is not clear how long the van, a 2008 GMC Savana stolen in South Los Angeles, had been parked on Haight Street at the side of the Whole Foods Market and across from McDonald’s before police got the tip.

The two unidentified officers were flagged down by the resident, who told them about the van and the suspects.

Path to police station

The officers checked their smartphones, which had just been updated with the fugitives’ information, and then approached Nayeri, who ran across the street into Golden Gate Park.

Sean Sebourn, a bike rental agent at the park’s entrance, said he saw Nayeri run by his booth.

“He was running kind of fast,” Sebourn said, adding that one officer was chasing him on foot and two patrol units were also involved in the pursuit. “He was carrying bags on him and he had a big jacket on,” Sebourn said, adding that the man disappeared into the park.

Other witnesses said the man took a path that led straight to Park Police Station. Police officers chased him near the back parking lot of the station, through Kezar Pavilion and back to the station before arresting him.

Officers later converged on the van, where Tieu was still hiding.

Vergel Dalusung, a security officer for the McDonald’s restaurant, said Tieu’s capture was uneventful.

“He was in a white van parked on Haight, right across from our entrance door,” Dalusung said, noting that he watched as an officer on foot and others in patrol cruisers surrounded the vehicle. “He came out the front door, they put the handcuffs on him and they made him sit inside the police car.”

He said the man appeared cooperative. “I didn’t hear him say anything.”

The two men weren’t in the city long after their arrests. They were processed but not held at San Francisco Jail, and released to Orange County authorities for their return to Southern California at about 5:30 p.m., sheriff’s officials said.

Chronicle staff writer

John Wildermuth contributed to this report.

Jaxon Van Derbeken is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jvanderbeken

Timeline of capture

Key events in the escape and search for three inmates who broke out of a maximum-security jail.

Friday, Jan. 22, 5 a.m.: Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, are last seen at an early morning head count in the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana.

Friday, Jan. 22, sometime after 5 a.m.: Nayeri, Tieu and Duong saw through a metal grate, crawl through a plumbing tunnel to the jail’s roof and rappel four stories to freedom using a rope made of bedsheets. Jail staffers don’t realize they’re missing for 16 hours.

Friday, Jan. 22, 9 p.m.: Jail workers realize the three are missing during an evening head count.

Saturday, Jan. 23: Authorities say Duong steals a white GMC van after responding to a Craigslist ad. Search efforts are focused on Southern California.

Thursday, Jan. 28: Law enforcement conduct raids of suspected gang locations in Orange County . Over the week, authorities arrest 10 people on probation and parole violations to put pressure on Vietnamese street gangs who might be helping the three.

Friday, Jan. 29: Duong walks into an auto repair shop in Santa Ana and says he wants to surrender. The hunt shifts north after Duong tells investigators he was with Nayeri and Tieu in San Jose on Thursday afternoon.

Saturday, Jan. 30: Nayeri and Tieu are arrested in San Francisco.

Associated Press