Customer recalls moment Luigi Mangione spotted in Pennsylvania McDonald's
(NEXSTAR) – New details are emerging about what happened at the Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald's where police arrested Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, on Monday.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting Brian Thompson multiple times on a New York City street in broad daylight Dec. 4.
Investigators caught up with Mangione five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, roughly 230 miles away from New York City, thanks to a McDonald's customer who relayed a tip to an employee.
Officers found him sitting at a back table, wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop, according to a Pennsylvania police criminal complaint.
He initially gave them a fake ID, but when an officer asked Mangione whether he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake,” the complaint says.
When he pulled his mask down at officers' request, “we knew that was our guy,” rookie Officer Tyler Frye said.
A McDonald's customer recalled the moment Mangione walked through the door, telling the BBC one of his friends remarked, "That looks like the shooter from New York."
Larry, who declined to give his last name to the media outside McDonald's Tuesday, said they laughed at the time, joking "Wouldn't that be something."
"I actually left after that and I went to the restroom and he was sitting in the back, but I thought it was one of the employees because they go back there on break and they put their hoods up, and he was in the corner."
Shortly after, Larry said he learned of the arrest while at church, and went back to the McDonald's to speak with the staff who confirmed it was the same restaurant.
He added that a McDonald's cashier told him that while taking Mangione's order she noticed a likeness, especially the "eyes and his eyebrows."
Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald's while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and beanie. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair.
Police said that Mangione was in possession of a gun similar to the one used to kill Thompson, a fake ID that investigators say Thompson's shooter used at a New York City hostel, a passport and a three-page handwritten document.
Mangione likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione's document expressed "some ill will toward corporate America."
During a news conference Monday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro thanked Officer Frye, who is just six months into his job with the police force.
He also denounced those who have expressed support for Mangione, calling the sentiment "deeply disturbing."
The Altoona McDonald's where he was captured has since been bombarded with terrible online reviews.
"The real hero in this story is the person that called 911 at McDonald's this morning," Shapiro said.
On Tuesday morning, Mangione was denied bail during a hearing in Pennsylvania court. During the proceedings, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey informed the court that Mangione will not waive extradition to New York but instead wants a hearing on the issue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report