The McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania who called in the tip that led to the arrest of Luigi Mangione is eligible for law enforcement’s $60,000 reward — but he may not collect it for a while.
The manhunt for the masked gunman suspected of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4 came to an end after six days when Larry, a McDonald’s employee, called 911, saying he recognized a customer nibbling on hashbrowns from the photos circulated by NYPD. Now, that worker is eligible to collect tens of thousands of dollars in reward money.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with second-degree murder in New York in connection to Thompson’s death. He also faces gun charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.
The FBI was offering up to $50,000 and NYPD Crime Stoppers was offering $10,000 for information that led to an arrest or conviction.
“The individual in Pennsylvania, who called in a tip, is eligible to receive the reward,” the Police Foundation board said in a statement Wednesday.
Since most rewards require a conviction, Larry might have to wait until a trial completes, which could take a year or more, the Associated Press reported.
It’s also not clear how much of that pot he would receive, since hundreds of tips were called in. Police fielded 400 tips, 30 of which were useful, according to the Associated Press. It’s not immediately clear how these tips assisted the case.
Because Larry called 911, it records a number and usually a name, but the Crime Stoppers line remains anonymous. On its website, Crime Stoppers promises to never record a tipster’s call, ask for the tipster’s name, or trace phone numbers. Instead, the program gives each tipster a reference number that they can later use to collect the reward, should the information lead to an arrest and an indictment.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny will assess which tips led to advancements in the case when determining how the reward money will be distributed, the outlet reported.
Larry recalled the moment he called in the tip, telling Fox News: “One of my friends, and I thought he was kidding, when the shooter — I’m assuming was the shooter who they made the arrest on — came in. [My friend] made a comment – ‘That looks like the shooter from New York.”
“The group of us thought it was more of a joke, and we were kidding about it,” Larry continued. “But as it turned out, it was him.”
New York prosecutors are said to be presenting evidence to a grand jury this week as they work toward what Governor Kathy Hochul predicts will be an “ironclad” indictment against the suspect.
Investigators are still trying to figure out a motive for the deadly shooting. Although police have previously said that Mangione suffered from debilitating back pain and underwent surgery in 2023, investigators are still looking into why UnitedHealthcare was targeted.
“We have no indication that he was ever a client of United Healthcare, but he does make mention that it is the fifth largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest healthcare organization in America. So that’s possibly why he targeted that that company,” Kenny told NBC New York Thursday. “He had prior knowledge that the conference was taking place on that date, at that location.”-Additional reporting by AP.
