Three violent escaped inmates are likely armed

Authorities are hunting for three inmates who escaped from a Santa Ana maximum-security jail.

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said at a Sunday news conference that members of the public should not approach the men if they are spotted.

Local and federal authorities in several counties are searching for the men who escaped Friday from Orange County Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana.

The sheriff says a separate investigation has been launched into how the inmates managed to obtain the tools to cut through half-inch steel bars.

Officials say they also cut through plumbing tunnels and made it to the roof where they were able to rappel to the ground using some kind of makeshift rope.

Hutchens calls the escape a “very sophisticated operation.”