Justice was served — and then lunch.
Small-town cops in Pennsylvania wagered a large turkey hoagie to arrest accused health care CEO killer Luigi Mangione, a Manhattan court heard Thursday.
Altoona, Pa., Lt. William Hanelly, who oversaw last December’s arrest of Mangione, testified that he offered a cop the free sandwich — from a local restaurant coincidentally called “Luigetta’s” — if he made the improbable collar.
“If you get the New York City shooter I’ll buy you Luigetta’s for lunch,” Hanelly texted to Officer Joseph Detwiler, who responded to a 911 call from a giggling, incredulous manager at the local McDonald’s where Mangione was nabbed.
Hanelly, who punctuated the text with a “wink” emoji, testified “it seemed preposterous” that the man wanted in the headline-grabbing Midtown murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was actually at the fast food eatery.
“Consider it done then. I want a large turkey,” Detwiler jokingly replied, referring to his desired lunch order, according to texts read aloud in court.
It is unclear whether Hanelly made good on his promise, but the sandwich hotspot in the town of around 45,000 residents touts its “famous hoagies” on advertisement flyers.
Hanelly became the 11th witness called by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office during Mangione’s marathon evidence suppression hearing, now in its sixth day.
The lieutenant, the ranking officer when Mangione was busted, revealed that he made the sandwich bet before he fiercely defended the decision to search the suspect’s backpack without getting a warrant — a key legal issue at the heart of the proceedings.
Altoona Officer Christy Wasser had “every right” to search Mangione’s bag at the McDonald’s, where the veteran cop found a 9 mm handgun and a red notebook that explained the accused killer’s purported motive to “wack” Thompson, Hanelly testified.
“Did you stop her?” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann asked the lieutenant.
“No. She had every right to do so,” Hanelly replied, referring to Wasser.
“Did you say ‘you need a warrant?’” Seidemann went on.
“No. She doesn’t need one,” the lieutenant said, adding that the situation was subject to a “warrant exception” in Pennsylvania.
Hanelly said that he’d made “hundreds of arrests” in his career, and that it was routine in his experience to search a suspect’s belongings when making a bust.
Detwiler, Hanelly and a slew of other Altoona Police Department officers responded to the McDonald’s on Dec. 9, 2024 — five days after Thompson was gunned down on a Big Apple street.
The manager told cops that customers eating breakfast had recognized the slay suspect, who was wearing a mask and sitting at a back table, after spotting his signature bushy eyebrows.
“I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looks like the CEO shooter from New York,” the worker said, laughing nervously in disbelief, according to an audio recording played aloud in court.
Mangione, 27, wore a gray suit and blue button-down shirt during Thursday’s hearing.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The marathon proceeding will continue Friday morning, and is expected to wrap up sometime next week.