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Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
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Profile |
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Name: Jeffery Allen Manchester
(John Zorn)
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Sex: Male |
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Race: White |
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Age Now: 37 |
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Height: 5'10" |
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Weight: 175 lbs |
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Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Brown
Hair on the top of his head is thinning
May have a goatee
Known to keep his side burns long |
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Eyes (Color and Correction): Brown |
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Other Physical Characteristics: Described as having a big nose
Known to work out and stay in good physical shape |
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Wanted for :
Escape, Polkton, NC;
Jun 15, 2004
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Location(s) |
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Last Seen : Charlotte, NC
Police say a truck driver gave Manchester a ride to Charlotte, NC on the day he escaped. |
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Possible Location : Sacramento , CA
He's from the Sacramento area and police believe he may have gone back to California |
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Last Known : Polkton, NC
Manchester was serving a 32 - 45 year sentence at the Brown Creek Correctional Institution in Polkton, NC when he escaped. |
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Traits |
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Known to be very sensitive about his thinning hair and has talked about getting hair plugs |
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Described as a loner |
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Has talked about the Sacramento Kings being his favorite NBA team |
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Served in the army |
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Has worked at McDonald's |
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Case Story |
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Robbery Served On A Late Night Menu |
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Shortly after midnight, on May 20, 2000, most of the people in the small town of Gastonia, North Carolina were in their beds for the night. But employees at the local McDonald's were still closing down the restuarant, having just finished another busy day. Manager Bob Johnson was checking the men's bathroom to make sure it was clean, when he noticed that the woman's bathroom door was ajar. Suddenly, the door swung open, and a masked man emerged, armed with a .22 caliber rifle. The gunman was an army reservist named Jeffery Allen Manchester. Earlier, Manchester had cut a hole in the roof of the restaurant, then dropped in through a ceiling tile in the bathroom. Police say Manchester cut off the stock and barrel of the rifle to give it a more menancing appearence.
Manchester pointed the weapon at Bob and told him to keep quiet. He explained that he wanted Bob to calmly walk to the back of the restaurant. As the two men entered the kitchen area, Manchester noticed three other female employees, and ordered them to lie on their stomachs. He then told Bob to open the safe and empty the money into a bag. Once the gunman had all the cash, he told everyone to get into the restuarant's walk-in cooler. Manchester was polite enough to let the workers get their jackets. Once he herded everyone into the cooler, he shut the door and jammed a lemon slicer in the lock before bolting out the back door. Bob and his employees waited until they thought it was safe, then hit a safety button inside the cooler that freed them. Police say Manchester got away with approximately $1,500 dollars. |
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Manchester Strikes Again |
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Instead of making his getaway, Manchester drove to the neighboring town of Belmont. He had another robbery to pull off. Manchester turned into an empty church parking lot and killed his engine. This seemed like the perfect spot to hide his car. He grabbed his bag of tools and walked through nearby wooded area. When Manchester emerged on the other side of the woods, he could see his next target: another McDonald's.
The bandit climbed onto the roof of the building and went to work. He used a razor knife to cut the inital hole in the asphalt. Next, Manchester used a power drill to rip through a layer of plywood. Police believe it took Manchester about 40 minutes to cut a hole that was big enough for him to fit through. He then dropped down into the restaurant and hid in the men's bathroom. Manchester had to wait till the morning employees came for work.
Around 5:00 a.m., a five person crew arrived at the McDonald's and prepared to open the restaurant for the breakfast rush. Once Manchester felt like the employees were busy in their daily routine, he came out of the bathroom. Like the previous robbery, Manchester forced the manager to open the safe and ordered everyone else to get on teh floor. Once the armed invader had all the money, he once again herded the employees into the cooler. Manchester then slipped out the back door. This robbery was more profitable than the earlier job. Police say Manchester got way with approximately $6,500. Shortly after Manchester took off, one of the McDonald's employees hit a panic alarm. While the armed robber was heading through the woods to his getaway car, the cops were racing to the McDonald's.
One Belmont police officer was setting up a perimeter around the general scene when he spotted Manchester's car in the church parking lot. The officer thought it was out of the ordinary for a vehicle to be parked there at this time of the morning. As he was pulling in to get a closer look, he saw a man dressed in dark clothing exiting the woods. He was headed toward the car. When Manchester spotted the officer he turned around and booked back into the woods. Officers converged on the scene. A short time later, they found Manchester, hiding in some thick weeds.
During his interview with police, Manchester admitted to robbing both of the restuarants. Detectives say Manchester told them that he got the idea to cut a hole in the roof after reading about a robber known as "the roofman." The roofman had robbed more than 60 business, mostly McDonalds, across 9 states. A task force was set up in California to track down the elusive bandit. Investigators believe that Manchester was the roofman, but he was never charged with any of the robberies.
In November of 2000, Manchester was convicted for the two McDonald's robberies in North Carolina. He was given a sentence ranging from 32 to 45 years. Manchester bounced around the prison system before winding up at the Brown Creek Correctional Institution in Polkton, North Carolina earlier this year. |
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Manchester Makes His Move |
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Police believe that Manchester began plotting his escape the first day he showed up at Brown Creek. If Manchester could pull it off, he would make history. The medium security prison was built in 1992, and no one had ever escaped from it before. Shortly after his arrival, Manchester got himself a job in the prison's metal plant. Police say that gave him close access to the prison's delivery trucks. While working in the plant, prison officials say he cut down a piece of three-quarter inch plywood and wedged it between the frame rails on the bottom of a delivery truck.
Police say Manchester perfected his plan for weeks. Police say he also crafted a piece of cardboard, painted it black, and attached magnets to it. Once he put the cardboard in place behind the truck, it made him virtually invisiable to the guards who check the vehicles.
On June 15, 2004, Manchester put his plan into action. After finishing work at the metal plant, Manchester and a group of inmates were escorted back to prison yard. Police say Manchester somehow slipped out of line unnoticed and made his way back to the delivery truck. Police believe he already had his supplies stashed in place under the vehicle. Manchester climbed onto the plywood he'd crafted and waited. Around 3:30 p.m., the delivery truck left Brown Creek, with Manchester riding underneath. Manchester hoped the truck would take him far from the prison, but the vehicle wasn't making a long distance delivery. The truck ended up parking just beyond the prison walls at an administrative building. Police say Manchester climbed out from underneath the truck and took off on foot. The prison performed a head count at 4:00 p.m. and noticed Manchester was missing, but by that time it was too late. Police say Manchester hitched a ride to Charlotte, North Carolina later that day and hasn't been seen since. |
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