California homeless man receives $100,000 for spotting fugitives

A homeless man from San Francisco is to be given a reward of $100,000 (£71,000) for helping police recapture two prison inmates who had escaped. Matthew Hay-Chapman had seen photographs of the two fugitives on the news and spotted them in a stolen van.

Mr Hay-Chapman had seen pictures of the two fugitives on the news

They had broken out of Orange County Jail six days earlier, sparking a state-wide manhunt.
The full $150,000 (£106,000) reward was split between four people, with Mr Hay Chapman getting the largest share.

Two employees of the Target supermarket will each receive $15,000 (£11,000) for alerting officials after surveillance footage showed two men acting suspiciously, officials said.


A Los Angeles man, whose van was stolen by the fugitives, will receive $20,000 (£14,000).
He had advertised the vehicle on Craigslist and called the police to report a man who had not returned after a test drive.

Mr Hay-Chapman spotted the fugitives in the stolen van next to a market in San Francisco and alerted officers in the area. Two of the inmates, Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu, were captured there. The third, Bac Duong, had surrendered a day earlier.

A cab driver who was held hostage for a week by the three men will not receive any of the reward money.