Citizens should be lauded as heroes
Rats,” “narcs,” “finks,” “snitches” are all names that are being leveled against some of the most wonderful citizens in Altoona. The astute customer at McDonald’s, the concerned employee who called 911, the Altoona Police department … were involved in the apprehension of Luigi Mangione, the main suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of
UnitedHealthcare.
I left Thompson Pharmacy in Altoona four years ago, so my wife Denise and I could live closer to family. When we moved, we frequently had to describe where we lived in central Pennsylvania. No one heard of Tyrone, Hollidaysburg or Altoona.
Everyone, including Jimmy Kimmel, now knows where Altoona is.
About 15 years ago, I was working at Broad Avenue when we looked up to see a man dressed in a hood and mask walking up the aisle. A clerk blurted out, “Take that hood off, and while you are at it get that mask off.” I guess our clerk sounded like a grandmother and the person complied by dropping his hood and taking off the mask.
The phone rang. It was the 911 call center with the operator asking, “Hey, are you guys OK?”
At this point, the guy was up front buying a Mountain Dew.
Soon, the police came with guns drawn on the potential robber — a tech had pushed the panic button.
From the time the robber came in the front door until the Altoona police arrived was less than two minutes. When we stood up from our huddled corner, there were at least six officers in the small neighborhood drug store.
They promptly arrested him, and eventually he was convicted of “possessing instruments of a crime.” He did have a pistol inside his waistband. Fortunately, it was a pellet gun.
About three years later, a woman asked if I remembered the incident. She had been driving the senior citizen bus when she saw the man put on black sweatpants, a black hoodie and the mask. She, too, called 911. This very astute citizen saw something and did something. She saw potential criminal activity and she took care of the situation.
We can have panic buttons and cameras in the stores, but nothing beats having a vigilant citizen report what she saw. I called her a hero then and that is what best describes the McDonald’s staff, customers and Altoona police. What happened on the streets of Manhattan could have happened in the pharmacy on Broad Avenue.
Well done Altoona, well done.
Peter A. Kreckel R.Ph
Morgantown, W.Va.