Police spot robbery suspect with drone, and then arrest him

[Night Hunter]

  

 

These are hard times for the criminal fraternity -- or, in fact, for anyone whom the police suspect of breaking a law.

 

It used to be that if you thought the police might be chasing you, you either looked back as you ran or glanced into your rear view mirror. Now you might have to look up.

 

An example of this occurred on Sunday in Wisconsin. As the local State Journal reports, a man allegedly stole a car from a coffee shop and robbed a gas station.

 

The police gave chase. But sometimes straining your legs or speeding a squad car through the streets isn't enough. Sometimes you might want to send up a flying eye.

 

And so it seems that the police sent up a drone and succeeded in finding the suspect after he crashed into a parked car.

 

Capt. Troy Hellenbrand of the Middleton Police Department told me: "The drone was deployed as the suspect was hiding in a pond in some tall cattails trying to avoid detection and arrest by our patrol officers."

 

You can't hide from flying eyes.

 

Marquis Meki Isiah Phiffer, 21 was arrested and subject to what the Journal described as "tentative charges" relating to the theft of a motor vehicle.

 

But where did the police get the little aircraft? Hellenbrand told me: "The drone was borrowed from our local fire department after they offered to assist us with this incident. This was the first time we have used a drone for a criminal investigation."

 

In the future, if police forces use more and more drones, we will surely end up terribly confused. We won't know whether we've done something wrong or whether it's merely Amazon tracking us down to deliver our latest crime novel.

 

Source http://www.cnet.com/