McDonald’s employee who called 911 in CEO’s shooting is eligible for a reward, but it will take time
PHILADELPHIA — During the five-day search for a masked gunman, more than 400 tips were received through the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers tip line. ambushed and shot dead Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, last week.
NYPD officials said about 30 of those tips were useful as information about the shooter’s movements before and after the December 4 shooting. But it wasn’t until a 911 call came in on Monday from a McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that police focused on their suspect.
Up to $60,000 in rewards from the FBI and the Crime Stoppers program had been offered to anyone who provided a tip that led to a break in the case. But even though the police and prosecutors quickly made an arrest and filed charges 26-year-old Luigi MangioneRewards may take significantly longer to release and may be less than the full amount, after taxes and taking into account the role played by tips.
Exactly who will receive a reward or part of it is still being determined, officials said. In fact, the federal and local rewards programs operate under different rules, but both have built in leeway to offer multiple rewards of different amounts based on the outcome of those tips.
The FBI rewards program, which offered a reward of up to $50,000 in this case, requires that a tip or information lead to an arrest and conviction.
Phone calls and emails to the FBI press office requesting details about the specific rewards program’s process were not returned, but websites for various rewards offered by the agency outline similar processes. Someone who tips must be nominated, usually by a federal investigative agency. A board will then review the tip and its role in the investigation and decide whether to award the full amount.
For the NYPD Crime Stoppers award, funded by the New York City Police Foundation and the NYPD Detective Bureau, the tip line typically offers up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment. The Bureau of Investigation has increased that amount to $10,000 in this case, and a conviction is required for his part.
“The public’s help is essential to solving crimes and keeping our communities safe,” the Police Foundation board said in a statement Wednesday. “The person in Pennsylvania who submitted a tip is eligible for the reward.”
The McDonald’s employee called 911, who took down a number and usually a name. A tipster who calls the Crime Stoppers line remains anonymous. The program promises never to track cell phone numbers or capture information about callers, but instead gives them a unique identification number that they can use to check the status of the case and the likelihood of a reward.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny will review which tip or tips played a significant role in cracking the case in determining how to allocate the detective bureau’s reward funds, police officials said Wednesday.
Most rewards require a conviction. Given the nature of the murder charges and the many jurisdictions involved, it could take a year or more for a trial to take place.
For the $3,500 from Crime Stoppers, the board could decide to issue reward money after the charges are completed. Both the FBI and Crime Stoppers have boards that review the tips, talk to detectives or other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, and determine which tips served a substantial role in the case. Boards have some leeway in deciding how much each tipper earns.
The Crime Stoppers board has the leeway to split a reward between tips or determine the maximum amount on a case-by-case basis.
NYPD officials did not specify how any of the 30 tips helped the case, but it is unlikely that each tipster will receive the highest amount offered.
The police foundation and the FBI do not discuss individual cases or disclose how much money individual tipsters received.
For some programs, such as the Rewards for Justice program, the FBI notes that it has awarded millions of dollars over the past two decades. For that program, the FBI sometimes announces the size of the reward, but does not identify the tipsters. Typically, the agency provides a confidential report to Congress detailing the tips and rewards.
The same principles apply to Crime Stoppers. The program does not release details in an effort to protect the anonymity promised to tipsters. It discloses on its website notable cases where the tips helped solve cases, including an April 2022 mass shooting at the scene where tips helped lead officials to the arrest and eventual guilty plea from Frank James.
___
Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this story.