(NEW YORK) — An Altoona, Pennsylvania, police officer testified Tuesday that he immediately recognized Luigi Mangione as the suspect in the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Officer Joseph Detwiler responded to a McDonald's on December 9, where witnesses reported seeing a man resembling the alleged shooter. "I knew it was him immediately," Detwiler stated during the hearing.

Mangione, 27, is facing serious charges in connection with Thompson's death, which occurred in New York City last year. He has pleaded not guilty. The hearing is focused on whether key evidence, including the alleged murder weapon and writings that prosecutors claim are confessions, can be used against him. Defense attorneys argue that this evidence was obtained unlawfully when police searched Mangione's backpack without a warrant during his arrest in Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting.

Defense lawyers contend that Detwiler violated Mangione's rights by questioning him for nearly 20 minutes without reading him his Miranda rights. They assert that this oversight should prevent prosecutors from using any statements Mangione made during that time.

Detwiler recounted his initial response to the dispatch call about a suspicious male at the McDonald's. He admitted to being skeptical and did not activate his sirens while driving to the scene. "I did not think it was going to be the person they thought it was," he testified, adding that his supervisor had jokingly promised him a hoagie if he apprehended the suspect.

As a regular viewer of Fox News, Detwiler was familiar with the coverage surrounding the murder case. He noted that he had seen images of the suspect multiple times before the arrest. During the hearing, prosecutor Joel Seidemann presented photos of the suspect, to which Detwiler confirmed he had seen on Fox News.

Prosecutors also played body-camera footage from Detwiler's encounter with Mangione at the McDonald's. The video shows Detwiler and his partner approaching Mangione, who initially identified himself as "Mark Rosario." Detwiler informed him that someone had reported him as suspicious, stating, "Thought you looked like someone."

On the first day of the hearing, prosecutors presented security camera footage from inside the McDonald's, a 911 call from the store manager, and dispatch audio leading to Mangione's arrest. A dispatcher can be heard saying, "There’s a male in the store that looks like the NYC shooter."

The defense argues that Mangione's constitutional rights were violated during the interrogation and the search of his backpack, which allegedly contained a handgun, magazine, and journal. They claim that officers began searching the backpack as early as 9:58 a.m. but did not seek a warrant until after 5 p.m. They are asking the judge to exclude the evidence, labeling it as the "fruit" of an illegal search.

Prosecutors maintain that the arrest and search were lawful and that the evidence strongly supports Mangione's guilt. If the defense is successful in limiting the use of the evidence from the backpack and statements made during the arrest, it could significantly weaken the prosecution's case against Mangione.