The Fresno Police got to see their “Drone as First Responder” program go into action in real time as it assisted in catching two accused shoplifters.
The alleged incident occurred at a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Northwest Fresno. According to reports, employees witnessed a man allegedly hiding merchandise in his clothes alongside a woman before taking off in a Honda Pilot. However, police got a jump start on the chase, as the department launched a drone already locked onto the suspect’s vehicle.
Authorities on the ground eventually stopped the suspects and arrested them. Footage shows the drone following the suspect’s vehicle as it weaved through traffic and switched directions.
Two were arrested — a 39-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman.
According to ABC 30, “Investigators later linked the pair to another theft at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Northeast Fresno earlier the same day.”
The arrest coincides with Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto announcing the drone program, with a fleet of three American-made drones, which she said helps authorities “arrive first on scene with calls for service within seconds, and that’s before ground units can ever arrive.”
“For years, our police officers, we know they need to see the unseen and know the unknown to help keep themselves and the community safer,” Casto said, explaining that they are taking the technology a step further to identify “critical” officer safety issues on what is happening on the ground.
“What those individuals are wearing, what’s going on the ground — whether they’re individuals armed, what they’re armed with, what those individuals are wearing, what they look like, their direction of travel, as well as any vehicles are the that are involved or injured persons that we can get an ambulance on the way for,” she said.