Sky Poli
Appearances
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
He was a gentleman. going so far as to use ma'am, sir, thank you, to the point of when he put a group of men and women into their freezer or refrigerator, he would often have a male employee give up his own jacket or sweater or sweatshirt to any of the women who might not have such a coat for herself.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
One case in California, responding officers were there probably within a minute or sooner than when the call went out that there was an armed robbery in progress. And responding officers saw the suspect on the roof
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And as officers began their containment of the area and surrounding the building, as you might say, the suspect jumped off of the roof of the McDonald's restaurant, onto the ground, ran away, jumped a fence, ran over four lanes of highway traffic and up a mountainside and escaped.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
We respected his abilities, his skills and abilities. Skill in his movements throughout the building to avoid detection from outside. It gave us a sense that perhaps he had some sort of training, perhaps, in handling a weapon and in his movements.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
Yes, frustrating. Yeah, it was frustrating. I don't know how better to say it. It was frustrating, but all good things come to an end.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
I had every belief that this was our suspect. I knew it was him. I knew it was him.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And he met with us, and he said the other people in the jail there, other inmates he was referring to, told him not to talk to us, that we would not do him any favors. And so he said, I'm glad you all came to see me, but I'm not going to answer any questions. So I was ready to be done. put my folder away, my pen in my pocket, and he said, but wait, I'd like to ask you questions.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And I said, well, that's rich. You won't answer my questions, but you want me to answer your questions. And I said, okay, let's have a conversation if you would like.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And the suspect forced the manager into a small room where the safe was. And the suspect looked up at the corner of the room and there was a camera. And the suspect stood up on a chair and with his hand moved the camera away from his face. And Jeff Manchester, good-looking young man, I said, you know, when you robbed this restaurant in Emeryville, you stood up on the chair and moved the camera.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
I said, Jeff, you've got a nose on you, man. And that bandana you had didn't cover it all up. So I'm looking at you. It's just like looking at that video with the camera being moved. So I know you're our guy. And he continued to deny. It wasn't me, he said. He said, I just learned about this from the news in California and need some money. So I thought I'd do the similar type of robbery here.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And I said, well, that's interesting, Jeff, because when you robbed the other McDonald's up in Virginia, I would say the little old lady manager, the woman you hold a gun to, She told me, she said, you know, for holding a gun on me, he was the nicest guy. And when I said that, Jeff's eyes teared up. And he maintained his innocence by words, but his reactions told a very different story.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And we found that that followed in large part his military assignments. For example, most of his military work was done here in California. And we found that when he was on the East Coast during military service, we had roof man robberies. And then when he was back in California, we had West Coast robberies.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
Then I think it was the following year, he's back doing his two weeks, and we had roof man robberies again. And at one point, there was a Midwest robbery. And lo and behold, if that wasn't the only Midwest roof man robbery we had, was about 50 miles from his training site.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
I did. I did. I spoke with his mother, very nice woman. That's hard, accusing her son of close to 40, maybe 50 armed robberies. I felt so bad for her. But she knew nothing of any robberies, and I believe her. I don't think she knew what was going on.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
She was shocked. She was devastated. Her son was looking at a great amount of time in prison in North Carolina. But we were pushing for a federal prosecution here on the West Coast.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
We were no longer focusing on a prolific armed robber. We were now focusing on homeland security. And so the steam that we had behind us for the federal prosecution dissipated quickly. And it was not even on the table anymore.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
I actually called the prison that he was assigned to. I just said, I'm the special agent. The cop in California has been working this case for two years. I've got nearly 50 armed robberies attributed to him. And I know him and his M.O., the way he works, probably better than anybody right now. I said, it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when he tries to escape.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And the response was with confidence that nobody was going to escape that officer's prison.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
The police officer made himself known, attempted an arrest, short foot chase into kind of a wooded area. And it was dark. Sun was about to come up, but still dark. And the officer did the right thing and maintained his composure and got on his radio and called for backup. And everybody came running. And as they say, the gig was up.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
I've heard him called the roof man. I've heard him called the rooftop robber.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
If I recall right, my pager was... beeping on my bedside. A very excited voice told me that they'd caught him, that they'd caught the roof man. And like so many times before, I asked them to please tell me, what makes you think you got the roof man? And they described the two robberies. He was nice and he was polite. He was friendly, all while holding a gun and threatening lives.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And he put them in the refrigeration unit and was gone like a flash. So just that alone led me to believe that's the roof man.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
And the detective at Sacramento Police Department realized, after speaking to other local agencies nearby, that this was a series. The suspect was following the same pattern, the same M.O.,
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
He was able to hide in the restaurant's Sometimes he would bring himself out as the stores were opening. Folks are showing up to start coffee and making breakfast foods and whatnot. And sometimes he would bring himself out and begin a robbery with the victims after closing. And I know of no robbery committed in this case in which there were customers inside or involved.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
As far as I know, that never happened in this series. It was always the robber and the employees.
Criminal
The Roofman, Part 1
It seemed to be a ticking time bomb because the series was picking up steam and it was prolific. Quite a few robberies were on the list, in my list, that I thought he was responsible for.