The nationwide manhunt for the suspect who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ended Monday in perhaps the most quintessentially American location: a McDonald’s.
At a news conference Monday, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said a customer in Altoona, Pennsylvania, recognized a man eating in the restaurant and notified a Mcdonald’s employee, who ultimately called the police “to check it out further.”
Police later arrested and charged Luigi Mangione, 26, in connection with the killing of Brian Thompson.
The FBI and the NYPD Crime Stoppers Unit had offered a combined reward of up to $60,000 to help capture the suspect in Thompson’s murder. But collecting that money may not be so straightforward.
Who can claim the reward money? In the Thompson murder case, it’s possible multiple people could be entitled to claim the reward money. Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner, thanked both the “customer at the McDonald’s” and “the McDonald’s employee that called 911 and reported this individual inside of their restaurant” at a news conference Monday, without naming them.
CNN has reached out to both the NYPD and the FBI for information on the rewards, but we may never know who spotted Mangione or called the police. And even if the people involved come forward, it could take months for them to successfully claim the $60,000 reward.
How do you get crime tip reward money? Simply reporting a tip or crime is not enough. In this case, the FBI offered a reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible” for the crime. Rewards with the NYPD Crime Stoppers Unit hinge on both an arrest and an indictment.
In major cases — like those involving international terrorists or people on the FBI Most Wanted List — FBI rewards are paid through the US Rewards for Justice program. In those instances, the individuals who submitted the tip must first be nominated by “a US investigating agency,” like the FBI, and they cannot submit their own names, according to the program.
Fortunately, collecting an NYPD Crime Stoppers reward is a bit more straightforward. Rewards are paid by the NYPD Police Foundation. If a tip leads to an “arrest and an indictment,” the information is reviewed by a police foundation committee that decides if the reward should be paid, according to the NYPD Crime Stoppers website.
