Key takeaways:
- Roofman, in theaters October 10, was inspired by a real-life criminal who hid in a Toys “R” Us for six months after escaping prison before he was caught again.
- Jeffrey Manchester robbed nearly 40 fast food chains by entering via the roof, earning him the nickname, and the film’s title.
- Manchester spoke with both Channing Tatum, who plays him in the film, and director Derek Cianfrance.
Sometimes, “you can’t make this up,” is the response to a bizarre, viral news story you almost can’t believe. And sometimes, the story is so uniquely absurd it trumps even the best writers’ imaginations. One such story inspired the film Roofman, in theaters October 10.
Directed by Academy Award nominee Derek Cianfrance, known for dramas like Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, Roofman explores the real story of the man behind the titular moniker. Channing Tatum steps into the role of Jeffrey Manchester, a criminal who escaped prison and took up refuge in a Toys “R” Us and the neighboring Circuit City. His unique choice of a safe house led to his viral infamy in the mid-2000s.
While the movie is based on Manchester’s life of crime, there’s more to the real story.
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Jeffrey Allen Manchester was born in Sacramento, California, in 1971. When he came of age, he enlisted in the military and became part of the 82nd Airborne Division. During his service, Manchester learned paratrooper skills, like rappelling and tactical awareness, that would serve him well in ways the military couldn’t anticipate. During this time, he got married at the age of 20 and started a family, twin boys and a daughter.
Manchester’s story took a dark turn in November 1999, however, when police were called to their home for a domestic disturbance, according to SFGate. Manchester’s wife would file for divorce and receive custody of their children.
It might be tempting to attribute Manchester’s turn to a life of crime to this incident, but in reality, Manchester’s double-life as “Roofman” began a year earlier, in November 1998.
Manchester robbed McDonald’s locations by entering undetected through the roof
Manchester earned his nickname from his modus operandi. He’d enter the place he intended to rob (often fast food chains, typically McDonald’s) via a hole he drilled into roof in the evening or early morning. Then, he would hide away in a restroom, waiting for the morning shift to file in. That’s when he would burst out, armed with a weapon, demanding the employees all step into the restaurant’s walk-in refrigerator—but first suggesting they put on their jackets—where they could be secured while he robbed the cash registers.
“Many of those he’s robbed have been struck by what a nice, decent guy he seems to be, a real gentleman,” a spokesman for the California Department of Justice told the Los Angeles Times in 2000.
Across two years, Manchester robbed around 40 locations using this particular method of thievery, the LA Times reports. But Manchester pushed his luck too far in May 2000.
In attempting to rob two North Carolina McDonald’s locations in the same day, Manchester was felled when an employee at the second location triggered a silent alarm. He fled the scene, but police soon caught him in the parking lot of a nearby church. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison, and incarcerated at Brown Creek Correctional Institution—but he would only stay there for four years.
In June 2004, Manchester made a daring escape, hiding beneath a delivery truck, concealed by a plywood platform he had spray-painted black while working in the prison’s metal shop. Once he was out, he hitchhiked to Charlotte, North Carolina, about 50 miles away, and began plotting his big score.John Lamparski//Getty Images
Channing Tatum, director Derek Cianfrance, and Kirsten Dunst at the Roofman premiere.
Manchester hid in a Toys “R” Us store for six months
Manchester began his grand plan by hiding out in the backrooms of a Charlotte Toys “R” Us, as the stores often had large storage areas for big box items that didn’t receive much foot traffic. He survived on baby food, candy, and other snacks, emerging in the evenings to roam the store after all the staff had left. In time, he used baby monitors and the store’s surveillance systems to track employee movements.
When the store’s business picked up during the 2004 holiday season, Manchester moved into the abandoned Circuit City next door, building a small living space for himself beneath a stairwell. Manchester went so far as to paint the walls and hang posters, and spent his days watching movies there.
Manchester assumed an alias, joined a church, and even dated
But Manchester didn’t just bide his time within the stores. He ventured out, and ingratiated himself with the local community by claiming his name was John Zorn and that he worked for the U.S. government. He attended church, and even began dating a local woman named Leigh Wainscott.
On December 26, 2004, Manchester put his master plan into action. He conducted his robbery in his usual fashion, and made off with the cash, but something went awry: Two employees were able to escape, and they notified law enforcement.
When the police searched the area, they found Manchester’s Circuit City hideout, and were even able to get a fingerprint that matched that of the escaped convict they were looking for. Plus, members of his church recognized his mugshot, and police connected Manchester to arson at a local dentist he visited, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Manchester’s girlfriend was essential in his re-capture
Perhaps it was out of sentimentality that Manchester stuck around Charlotte in the aftermath of the robbery rather than flee the state. After all, when Wainscott called him on January 5, 2005 (at the behest of the police), he went to meet her for her birthday dinner and was promptly arrested, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Manchester would ultimately receive a 40-year sentence for his crimes. He made two more escape attempts, one in 2009 and one in 2017, but both were unsuccessful. Manchester remains in prison. Though he’s in a maximum security prison, he advised on the film Roofman, speaking with both the filmmaker and Tatum.
Manchester even claimed a connection with Tatum after speaking with him, stating, “Channing and I have a lot in common. We both have a very high motor. We both played defensive end and we’re both extremely good looking,” Cianfrance told TIME of the conversation.