Posted on 1/11/2005, 9:30:39 PM by SmithL
The slick-as-fry-oil robber known as "Roofman," a former Army reservist in Concord who drilled and dropped into fast-food joints from the Bay Area to Massachusetts, is back behind bars with another whopper of a saga.
His downfall this time? A woman.
By day, Jeffrey Manchester's spent his six months on the lam as a generous churchgoing volunteer known as John, who gave toys to kids and told his new girlfriend and church congregation that he had a secret government job, police said.
At night, he was a fugitive hiding and playing in a Toys "R" Us, making his lair in a cubbyhole in the bicycle display, racing remote-control cars on the roof after hours and riding bikes around the store for exercise, said Sgt. Katherine Scheimreif of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., police. He even monkeyed with the employees' work schedules, and his diet included stolen baby food, she said.
The crafty and polite Manchester, 33, was serving a 45-year sentence in June when he hid under a delivery truck and became the first person ever to escape from the Brown Creek Correctional Institution in Polkton, N.C.
Suspected of at least 40 robberies at McDonald's and other businesses in the Bay Area and across the country before being sent to prison in 2000, he was caught again last week in Charlotte, where police are still piecing together the brazen new persona he created.
When the Toys "R" Us where he was holed up became crowded during the holiday shopping season, he fashioned a secret passageway into an adjoining Circuit City that had been abandoned, Scheimreif said. In a cubicle he built of sheetrock under a stairwell, he painted the walls, put up posters and action figures, mounted a toy basketball hoop and watched Spiderman and other movies on a DVD player,...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The government takes a lot more from the store than that guy could have possibly taken. Taxes.
The article makes good reading and I'm sure he is a charming chap who wouldn't intentionally hurt a fly but nevertheless I'm not laughing:
____________________________________________________________
"He bought her diamond earrings and expensive scarves; he gave gifts to her three children. They spent the holidays together, decorated her Christmas tree and went to movies.
But after learning his real identity, Wainscott agreed to cooperate with police and arranged for Manchester to come to her home on Jan. 5 for her 40th birthday. Instead of finding her and her children, he was nabbed by waiting police."
____________________________________________________________
So he romanced a vulnerable older woman with kids and seduced her congregation.
____________________________________________________________
"Manchester also got to talk to his mother after the arrest.
Explaining his capture, he told her, "Mom, I kind of lost focus," she recalled Monday. The mother, who asked not to be identified, lives in the Sacramento area, where Manchester's twin 13-year-old boys and 11-year daughter also live with their mother."
____________________________________________________________
So he already has three children who he dumped on his mom while he lives out his teenage fantasies. So he isn't a serial killer, child molester nor (apparently) a drug addict. Why an obviously talented, energetic man who is not being ruled by inner demons chooses to throw his life away like this truly leaves me scratching my head.
"At night, he was a fugitive hiding and playing in a Toys "R" Us, making his lair in a cubbyhole in the bicycle display, racing remote-control cars on the roof after hours and riding bikes around the store for exercise, said Sgt. Katherine Scheimreif of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., police. He even monkeyed with the employees' work schedules..."
Don't they have motion sensors and tape recorders on the security cameras? What's up with this?
I am amazed by this too. One large store was robbed of $250,000 worth of computer equipment in the last year. I thought they had night watchmen, which would be cheaper than losing all that loot.
If he came through a wall or the roof... well, there were no motion detectors there obviously.
I have heard that many property owners actually advise there alarm companies NOT to call Police or them on just motion detectors.... only if the alarm signals come in with doors or windows.
My security company calls me on all alarms; I'm there in under 12 mins with a Kimber® "Eclipse Target II" 1911A1 .45cal ACP and a highly-customized, 8+1 Remy® 870 Synthetic 12ga Tactical Riot Shotgun.
Then, there's the dbl-door Canon® Gunsafe inside the GC&N Complex, which contains Class III Armalite® AR-10s and Class III Bushy® AR-15s. If I get to those toys, no burglar leaves the store, alive.
S,S&S-U.
I'm asking this question too.
However, we may have found a candidate for the new post of National Intelligence Director. ;^>
I think he burrowed into the place where I worked once, through the roof. All he got was what was in the cash register, about $300.
,,, there's politicians who should swap places with this guy in jail. At least he's doing things.
Police believe Manchester had been living in the area for the last six months. They said he first set up camp inside the Toys 'R Us on Independence Boulevard. According to police, Manchester hid behind a bike display while the store was open.Manchester disabled the surveillance cameras at various times so he wouldn’t be seen, police said.
When the toy store got too crowded during the holiday, police said Manchester moved to the vacant Circuit City building next door.
There is a new system out there which is available to business' which has a camera tat can transmit the video to any off site location like the owners home, cell phone or to an outsite security company. It is pretty expensive though.
So someone should watch the night watchman. I see too much gap between the losses and the cost to prevent them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.