Homeless man with photographic memory saw a van that looked oddly familiar — one call turned his life around

A man living on the streets of San Francisco made a single observation that ended a statewide manhunt and changed his own life forever. Back in 2016, Matthew Hay-Chapman, who was homeless at the time, was walking near a Whole Foods in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood when he spotted a white GMC van parked outside. According to ABC News, it looked exactly like the one he’d seen in the newspaper — a van linked to three inmates who had escaped from Orange County’s Central Men’s Jail.

His recall was instant, the kind of recognition that scientists call visual recognition memory — the brain’s ability to identify familiar objects in complex environments. A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that our brains are wired to spot what stands out from the ordinary, distinguishing the familiar even amid noise and distraction. That mechanism may explain how Hay-Chapman, in the middle of a busy city street, could match the van to an image he’d seen days earlier and immediately know what to do. "He saw one of the escaped inmates, Nayeri, get out of the van and walk into the McDonald’s," said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. 

She added, "He followed him inside, confirmed it was him, ran out a side door, and flagged down a passing patrol car." That quick decision led police to capture Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu within minutes. The third fugitive, Bac Duong, had already turned himself in. For his help, Hay-Chapman was later awarded $100,000 — the largest share of a $150,000 reward set up by the Orange County Board of Supervisors for information leading to the inmates’ capture. County spokeswoman Jean Pasco confirmed that Hay-Chapman would receive the "lion’s share" because his actions directly resulted in the arrests. 

Two Target employees, manager Hazel Javier and loss prevention officer Jeffrey Arana, were also recognized for spotting suspicious activity on store surveillance footage and calling the police. They each received $15,000. Armando Damian, whose van had been stolen by the escapees, received $20,000 after reporting it missing to authorities. Damian had told investigators that a man answering a Craigslist ad for a test drive had taken the vehicle and never returned. That report helped police connect the van to the fugitives days later. Carrie Braun explained that the Board of Supervisors divided the reward based on which tips provided "actionable intelligence" that led to the arrests.

"The police department provided the board with information about what helped them locate the inmates," she said. "The board then decided how to divide the reward based on those actions." Officials said Long Ma, the cab driver who had been held hostage by the three men during their escape, did not receive a share of the money. In addition to the county reward, another $50,000 from federal agencies — $30,000 from the FBI and $20,000 from the U.S. Marshals Service — was still pending at the time, with distribution yet to be determined. For Hay-Chapman, the reward was life-changing. Once without a home, he suddenly had the means to rebuild. "He is the guy who deserves the reward," said Shawn Nelson, supervisor for Orange County’s 4th District. "He was fully engaged in helping catch the bad guys."

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