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Cop describes recognizing Luigi Mangione when he pulled down mask at McDonald's
By Michael Ruiz, Maria Paronich
Published December 02, 2025
One of the Pennsylvania police officers who arrested accused assassin Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Altoona last year took the witness stand in his evidence suppression hearing Tuesday morning, testifying about the moment he realized the suspicious person eating breakfast in a corner might be a suspected killer.
Altoona Police Officer Joseph Detwiler testified that while on his way to responding to the call, he didn't expect to actually find the suspected assassin. But when he arrived, he said that as soon as Mangione pulled down his face mask he believed he was looking at a wanted man.
He testified that "within 2 seconds" he asked Mangione to pull his mask down, and then he was "100% sure" it was the man the NYPD was looking for.
"No doubt in my mind," he testified.
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Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP)
Detwiler said he never asked Mangione if he had murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He testified that he asked for Mangione's name, for his ID, if he had been to New York recently, where he was from and if he was from Altoona.
He said he never said Mangione was under arrest, never prevented Mangione from leaving and never mentioned the shooting in New York City.
He said he grew suspicious and moved Mangione's bag away from him, fearing there might be a weapon inside.
Later, police alleged they found the suspected murder weapon in the bag.
Under cross-examination, Detwiler testified that he did not obtain a search warrant before officers looked into Mangione's bag.
Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate charged with executing the head of America’s largest healthcare company on a Midtown sidewalk, is back in Manhattan court for an evidence hearing that could make or break his state case on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Steven Hirsch for New York Post via Pool)
Mangione is accused of shooting Thompson from behind outside a Manhattan hotel last year.
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Police grabbed journals and other writing from Mangione's backpack. They also took his fake New Jersey ID, under the name "Mark Rosario," and recovered the alleged murder weapon and a 3D-printed silencer.
This 2017 file photo of Brian Thompson was released via Businesswire when he was named chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Unit in 2017. (Businesswire)
Mangione's defense has argued that the search of his belongings without a warrant was unlawful, and therefore the evidence should be suppressed. Prosecutors countered that police were doing their job within the bounds of the law and that the search was justified without requiring a warrant.
The defense also wants some of Mangione's statements suppressed.
Luigi Mangione was sitting in a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, when police arrived to check on a tipster's report after someone recognized him from a wanted poster. (Southern District of New York)
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First he allegedly gave police a fake name — the one that appears on his alleged fake ID from New Jersey, which police say he used to check into the Manhattan hostel days before Thompson’s assassination.
He also, while in custody, allegedly blurted out something about having a 3D-printed gun. The Pennsylvania jail guard who heard that statement testified that the accused assassin brought it up on his own.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/cop-describes-recognizing-luigi-mangione-when-he-pulled-down-mask-mcdonalds