‘Roofman’ movie starring Channing Tatum premieres in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — The bizarre Charlotte crime story of Jeffrey Manchester, dubbed the “Roofman,” is now hitting the big screen. Channing Tatum stars as the convicted robber who escaped prison, hid for months inside a Toys “R” Us on East Independence Boulevard, and was eventually captured by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department detectives.

The movie was filmed in Charlotte and its premier is Tuesday night at the Carolina Theatre in Uptown.

Channel 9 covered every development in this case 21 years ago.

Manchester was convicted of robbing about 60 McDonald’s and other businesses across the country by breaking through the roof of all of them.

He was known as a polite robber, offering jackets to those he locked up in freezers before going through the cash registers at McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants, according to testimony.

He was caught in Gaston County, convicted and sent to prison for decades until he escaped by clinging to the bottom of a truck headed out of Brown Creek Correctional Institution in Anson County.

Retired CMPD Sgt. Katherine Scheimreif helped put Manchester behind bars.

She remembers CMPD getting involved after an armed robbery at this Toys “R” Us that used to be on East Independence Boulevard near Wallace Road where she said a sheriff’s deputy was held hostage.

“(Manchester) put a gun to her head and put her on the ground,” she said.

When officers arrived on scene that day, Scheimreif said investigators found a mistake Manchester made that led police to his big secret.

“What he would essentially do is he would push on the back door, which would trip the alarm and the alarm was tripped,” Sheimreif said. That would make officers believe he left out the back door and hopefully stop them from searching the inside of the toy store.

“Then, he would go through his little trap door and into the other side (of the wall) – the Circuit City,” she said. “But he forgets to trip the alarm on the back door. So, when the police responded, they’re all looking around going - he’s still in here, he’s got to still be in here.”

It forced detectives to look even closer, which led them to the trap door Manchester was using to get to a makeshift room he’d been staying in for months.

“He had a little bed in there with Spider-Man sheets and he’s got some videos to watch,” Scheimreif said.

He lived on baby food and snacks, she noted.

A trap door led to an empty Circuit City next door, which became Manchester’s home for months.

He left fingerprints behind in his secret room, which led Scheimreif and her detectives right to Manchester, a former U.S. Army Reserve sergeant.

“There was an Army-Navy store that used to be real close proximity, so they go in there with his picture and then they go to a couple other places, a gym where he had been working out and they realized at that point, he’s got a girlfriend that he had been going to church with,” she said. “And the girlfriend worked at a local business, as well, so they visited the local business and sat with her and just blew her world to pieces.”

The girlfriend had no idea about the true Manchester.

He had given her a fake name and said he worked for a classified job for the government.

After police showed Manchester’s girlfriend the evidence they had, she agreed to lure him to her apartment.

Scheimreif said it was his girlfriend’s birthday and that’s how she got him to stop by her place.

“We tracked his movements, realized when he was coming down to Independence Boulevard,” Scheimreif said reflecting on that day. “So, he’s coming down to Independence Boulevard and I’m on the radio and it’s like -- we’re all happy here. It’s great and all of a sudden he does a U-turn.”

Scheimreif remembers wondering what went wrong or who spooked Manchester.

“He (had) pulled into the BI-LO and he ran inside and he bought flowers for her,” she said.

Scheimreif said Manchester then continued on his was to his girlfriend’s apartment where CMPD moved in.

“That’s where SWAT took him down,” she added. “He knew he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Manchester was convicted again and sentenced to decades in prison all over again.

More than 20 years later, the world will know the story as it hits theatres.

“It looks enlightening. It looks like adventuresome,” Scheimreif said. “And although that’s not maybe completely entirely true, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think America could use a little light and fun and happiness right now. I’m all for it.”

Scheimreif has a cameo in the film, as well, calling out Charlotte by name.

“All my friends and family, we’re enjoying the moment and having fun with it,” she said.

Manchester is currently serving out his decades-long sentence in Central Prison in Raleigh.

“Roofman” will be widely released on Oct. 10.

VIDEO: True crime movie starring Channing Tatum to be filmed in Charlotte; extras needed

True crime movie starring Channing Tatum to be filmed in Charlotte; extras needed

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