Wild true story behind new Channing Tatum movie 'Roofman' and prisoner who hid in Toys 'R' Us for months
Topics: News, US News, Channing Tatum, Film and TV
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Topics: News, US News, Channing Tatum, Film and TV
Roofman’s story is so bizarre you could be forgiven for thinking it was just typical Hollywood imagination, but the real story is equally wild.
The film Roofman, starring lead Channing Tatum, follows his character and real-life criminal Jeffrey Manchester.
Manchester, born in Sacramento, California, had built up quite a reputation as an armed robber, as he would regularly attempt to rob fast food chains via the roof.
The former military man Manchester would typically drill a hole into a roof in the evening or early morning and enter the building only to hide away, waiting for the morning staff to come in.
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That is when he would step out, weapon in hand, and demand employees step into the restaurant's refrigerator while he robbed the cash registers.
It is estimated that he robbed around 40 different locations using this method in just 2 years.
His run would eventually come to an end and Manchester was arrested in 2000 and sentenced to 45 years in prison for his string of robberies dating back as far as late 1998.
However, after 4 years, Manchester would put together a daring escape, hiding beneath a delivery truck, concealed by a plywood platform he had spray-painted in the workshop.
When out, he hitchhiked from the Brown Creek Correctional Institution to Charlotte, North Carolina and began plotting a new score.
In a seemingly unhinged choice of hideout, Manchester hid out in the backrooms of a Charlotte Toys “R” Us.
This was because they often had large storage areas that didn’t receive a lot of foot traffic.
He managed to survive off baby food, candy and other snacks, even boldly stepping out to wander around the store at night when staff had left.
In the 2004 holiday season, as foot traffic in the store picked up, he moved next door to an abandoned Circuit City.
He managed to build himself a rather comfortable living space, hanging posters and even watching movies here to pass the time.
To make things even weirder, Manchester didn’t just bide his time; he got out in the community, attending church and even going on dates and getting himself a girlfriend under the false name John Zorn.
On Boxing Day of that year, Manchester put his robbery plan into action and conducted his robbery in the usual way at the Toys "R" Us, but things didn’t go to plan, as two employees escaped and notified the police.
This led to authorities discovering Manchester’s hideout and realizing he was the man they had been searching for in connection with the prison escape.
Despite getting away after the robbery, Manchester didn’t leave Charlotte and was eventually recaptured when his then-girlfriend was convinced by police to help bring him in to be arrested.
He was sentenced to forty years in prison and is still serving time for his crimes in Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.