In Register interview, O.C. jail escapee denies kidnapping, torture allegations

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http://www.ocregister.com/articles/nayeri-704031-orange-county.html

ORANGE – Hossein Nayeri says his eight-day stint as the nation’s most-wanted man was as tense as it was fleeting.

Nayeri, charged with torture and recently likened by an Orange County prosecutor to movie villain Hannibal Lecter – and who authorities say led a brazen three-man escape last month from the Central Men’s Jail – said Friday that the high-profile odyssey was more stressful than liberating.

“I didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Nayeri said, at times speaking in a near whisper and occasionally flashing a toothy grin. “I wouldn’t say it was enjoyable.”

Nayeri, 37, offered his first public comments about the drama during an exclusive interview with The Orange County Register in the visitor’s center at Housing Unit P in Theo Lacy Facility, a maximum-security jail in Orange.

Nayeri insisted he’s been unjustly treated by everyone from authorities to the public, and that he’s not the demon portrayed by the media and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. He spoke in a calm voice. His hands trembled occasionally as he cradled a jailhouse phone.

Nayeri said he is innocent of the criminal allegations that landed him in jail two years ago. In 2012, authorities say, Nayeri led a group that kidnapped and brutalized a Newport Beach medical marijuana distributor, and that Nayeri ordered a member of his group to cut off the man’s penis.

“I’m a nice guy,” he said.

“I’ve done a lot of things for humanity that are opposite of what I have been accused of.”

He declined to elaborate, one of many topics he chose not to discuss in detail.

Clean-shaven, relaxed and recently bathed, Nayeri said he closely followed regular media briefings held by Orange County sheriff’s officials during his time on the run with inmates Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, and a cab driver allegedly kidnapped by the fugitives.

He smiled when he said he disliked his public portrayal.

“The media coverage was insane. I was convicted in the court of public opinion. It blows my mind.”

Nayeri bristled, but didn’t comment, when asked if he organized the escape.

Sheriff’s officials say early in the morning on Jan. 22 the three inmates used tools to cut through metal grates and climb through a plumbing conduit. Officials say the men eventually used bedsheets fashioned into ropes to rappel five stories from the jailhouse roof.

Nayeri also seemed incredulous, but again did not comment, when asked about speculation that a drone brought them the tools needed for the escape.

And Nayeri sat silently when asked if he wanted to kill the 74-year-old cabbie, Long Ma of Westminster or if he fought with Duong over the matter, as Ma has said.

“I’m an open book, but there are things I can’t talk about,” Nayeri said. “And there are a lot of things to talk about.”

ya he is innocent of everything...poor man.