76 | April• 2018
THE DRIVE OF HIS LIFE
Walmartdidn’thavewhatthemen
needed,sotheytoldMatodrive
themtoaTargetstore45minutes
away.Mahadnowayofknowing
that they were desperate for phones,
forclothes,andforsomesemblance
ofaplan.heyinallyemergedfrom
Ta r get. “My mu m’s plac e i s r ig ht
aroundhere,”Duonglied.“Takeus
there, please.”
The streets were dark and quiet,
andafterafewminutes,Duong
motionedtoamangystripmall.
“Pullinhere,”hesaid.AsMaparked
his Honda Civic, Tieu handed Duong
apistol,whichDuongpointedatMa.
Ma’smindracedasNayerishouted,
“Boom, boom, old man!”
The men placed Ma in the back
seat, where Tieu now trained the
gunonhisstomach.Nayerijumped
behindthewheelandsetoutfora
nearby motel.
Bythetimetheyarrived,Mawas
convincedhewasgoingtodie–he
just didn’t know how or when. In-
side a cramped room, he watched as
Nayeri, whom he suspected was the
group’sringleader,splayedouton
oneofthetwobeds.Mawasordered
to double up with Duong on the other
asTieusleptonthefloornearthe
door, the gun under his pillow. For
Ma,therewasnoescapeand,with
allthedreadhefelt,noeasywayto
fall asleep.
In the morning, Duong turned on
theTV.Areportaboutaprisones-
capewasonthenews.“Hey,”Duong
shouted,“that’sus!”Mugshotsilled
thescreen.Amassivemanhunt,Ma
now learned, was under way for his
three roommates.T
HE JAILBREAKhad occurred
adayearlier,onJanuary22,- It began after Duong,
sprawledonabunkintheopen-loor
dormitory of the Orange County Jail’s
Module F,watchedaguardinishhis
5am head count.
Duong then gathered
the tools that he’d been
hoarding and shuff led
totherearofthehous-
ingblock,whereNayeri
andTieuwaitedforhim.
here,hiddenbehinda
bunk bed, the three used their tools
to work loose a metal grate. They
belliedthroughtheholeand,sur-
roundedbypipesandwiring,crept
alongametalwalkwayuntilitdead-
endedagainstawall.Usingthepipes,
they shimmied skywards into a ven-
tilationshaftthatledtoatrapdoor,
whichtheyshovedopen.
Nowontheroof,theyfastened
amakeshiftropethatthey’dfash-
ioned from bedsheets and rappelled
MA WAS CONVINCED HE
WASGOINGTODIE–HEJUST
DIDN’T KNOW HOW OR WHEN