Man charged with trying to break Luigi Mangione out of prison with pizza cutter
Authorities say they charged a Minnesota man for allegedly trying to break Luigi Mangione out of jail using a barbecue fork, random documents and a pizza cutter.
Mangione is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in late 2024.
Investigators said 36-year-old Mark Anderson of Mankato, Minnesota, showed up at the jail carrying a bag and claiming he was an FBI agent at about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday night. Jail security staff said Anderson told them he had a court order for his release signed by a judge. That confused officials since Mangione is being held without bail.
When the guards asked for identification, Anderson produced his Minnesota driver’s license and told them he had weapons in his backpack. He then began to “throw” documents at jail staff.
“Anderson also displayed and threw at the BOP officers numerous documents,” an investigator said in the criminal complaint. “I have reviewed those papers and they appear to be related to filing of claims against the United States Department of Justice.”
Guards detained him and searched his backpack. Inside, officials discovered a two-pronged barbecue fork and what investigators called a “round steel blade,” which appears to be a pizza cutter.
While the complaint does not say who Anderson said he went to the prison for, CNBC reports that a law enforcement source confirmed Anderson was there for Mangione. The source also said Anderson had traveled to New York for a job opportunity. However, it didn’t pan out and he began working at a pizzeria.
Latest on Mangione trial
Just hours before Anderson’s arrest, state prosecutors in Manhattan Supreme Court asked a judge to set Mangione’s murder trial for July, CNBC reports.
Prosecutors accused Mangione of stalking and shooting Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024. Thompson was in Manhattan for an investors’ event run by UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare’s parent company.
The shooting was captured by a security camera showing a man casually walking behind Thompson before shooting him several times in the back. Authorities spent the next five days searching for the suspect, receiving a tip about a person inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Authorities arrested Mangione at the restaurant and said they found evidence linking him to the shooting. However, his defense team is trying to have that evidence kept out of the trial.
His lawyers argued that the arrest and the resulting warrantless search were invalid because officers failed to read him his rights. Some items recovered during his arrest include the suspected murder weapon, ammunition and a journal which prosecutors described as a manifesto.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
