HAGERSTOWN, Md. (WDVM) — Police say Peter Manfredonia was taken into custody Wednesday night near the Pilot Travel Center in Hagerstown, Maryland. He was apprehended by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals. Manfredonia is a suspect in connection with two homicides in Connecticut and has been on the run for six days.
The Hagerstown Police Department said Wednesday evening that an Uber driver dropped Manfredonia, 23, off in Hagerstown on Tuesday, May 26. The first homicide was reported on Friday, May 22, the Associated Press reports. Investigators followed Manfredonia through New Jersey, to Pennsylvania, and now Maryland. He was arrested around 9 p.m. in the 1600 block of Halfway Blvd, Maryland State Police said in a press release. Police said he was in a nearby wooded area when he walked out in front of authorities. The arrest team included members of the Maryland State Police, Connecticut State Police, the US Marshals Service and the FBI, along with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
He is being processed in Washington County and is held there pending extradition back to Connecticut.
Manfredonia’s escape vehicle, a stolen Hyundai Santa Fe, was recovered in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Trooper Petroski tweeted that Manfredonia took an Uber to Hagerstown from a Sheetz in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Maryland State Police said state troopers were in the Hagerstown area since noon on Wednesday after receiving the tip of Manfredonia’s potential whereabouts from the US Marshals Service.
Manfredonia was taken into custody at the Pilot Travel Center on Halfway Blvd in Hagerstown, Md.
According to police, Manfredonia allegedly killed 62-year-old Ted DeMers with a machete on Friday. The Associated Press reports that Manfredonia then allegedly left to another man’s home and held him hostage — stealing his guns and truck before driving to Derby, Connecticut. That’s when Manfredonia is accused of fatally shooting 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele, an old high school classmate. He then kidnapped Eisele’s girlfriend with her car and later left her at a rest stop in New Jersey on I-80, The Associated Press reports.
The surveillance photo below was released by Pennsylvania State Police on Wednesday, who said it appears to show Manfredonia at a Sheetz in Chambersburg. However, police later confirmed that Manfredonia was dropped off in Hagerstown on Tuesday morning — which means he was in the area for over 24 hours before his arrest.
The Hagerstown Police Department said in a Wednesday evening press release prior to his apprehension that Manfredonia was carrying a black bag filled with firearms. Police were urging residents to stay inside, keep their doors locked and call 9-1-1 immediately if they believe Manfredonia was seen.
Connecticut State Police tweeted after Manfredonia’s apprehension that there were no injuries to law enforcement when he was taken into custody.
