BEL AIR, Md. — Less than an hour after an armed man invaded a home in Bel Air last week and shot a woman, neighbors learned deputies had already tracked down their man with a little help from above.
“With a drone,” said Christopher Monti, “I’ve never heard of it. It makes you feel better, even at night, regardless of the situation, if they’re on foot or whatever, that they can track these people down.”
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler says the suspect had previously tried to break into several homes before finding a breezeway door left open and confronting a woman inside.
“During a struggle a round went off striking the female… thankfully not a serious injury,” said Gahler, “A male that was in the house responded downstairs with his own fire arm. The suspect fled.”
Within six minutes after that initial call came in, deputies had already launched a drone to help search for the suspect and in just another 15 minutes, he’d already been taken into custody.
Three days later, another home invasion, this time with a sexual assault, on Crossgate Avenue in Edgewood prompted another search, and with the help of a drone, a suspect was captured within the hour.
“I was initially not one of the believers, and I had to see the concept proven, and it’s proven itself not only worthy, but much more economical than something like a helicopter, which we had here at one time,” said Gahler.
It’s also quicker to deploy for deputies when time is of the essence, not to mention its effectiveness at tracking down a fugitive while giving officers a pair of eyes in the sky to help protect them as well.
“How many times has a cop chased somebody in the woods or whatever and been shot or tried to defend himself and there’s issues?” said Monti, “It’s scary, but with a drone, these guys causing trouble are going to have to come up with something else cause the drones are going to follow them.”
