Santa Monica police spotted and arrested a man who was burglarizing vehicles in a parking lot near the pier using a drone.
On July 6, a Santa Monica police officer was directing the department’s drone toward the station from a radio call when the officer decided to inspect the Fourth of July weekend crowd near the pier and nearby parking lots.
As the drone flew over Lot 1 North, the parking lot next to the pier, it noticed a man wandering the lot, according to a video the department posted to its YouTube account.
“As [the pilot] watched, the subject approached an unoccupied parked vehicle, pulled tools from his sweatshirt and quickly opened the driver’s side door lock,” the department said in the video.
Drone footage shows the suspected burglar breaking the lock on the driver’s side door of a black SUV and then getting into the car.
He remained in the car for about two minutes, the department said.
While the man was inside the vehicle, the drone pilot called officers to intervene on site.
But before they arrived, the suspected burglar got out of the SUV and broke the lock on another vehicle, police said.
“The driver was able to direct responding officers to the correct driveway in the parking lot where they located the suspected burglar in possession of several stolen items and placed him under arrest for burglary of a vehicle and various other crimes related to the theft,” the department said.
The department’s drone is part of a first responder program that uses a certified pilot to fly the drone and can assist responding officers by checking for suspects fleeing the area and providing directions.
