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Drone Helps Hunt Down Suspect in Car Theft and Robbery

posted by martyb on Monday July 06 2015, @01:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the up-in-the-air-about-this-one dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

A Wisconsin robbery and auto theft suspect was captured by police thanks to a borrowed drone on May 31, according to court papers filed yesterday in Middleton, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Marquis Phiffer, 21, stole a car and robbed a convenience store in Middleton, Wisconsin on May 31.

After allegedly stealing a car that had been left running outside a coffee shop and robbing the store at a BP gas station (he declared he had a gun, but the clerk never saw one), Phiffer was pursued by police. A chase that reached speeds of up to 70mph ended when Phiffer crashed into a parked car. He abandoned the car and ran into a marsh near Tiedemann's Pond, just a few blocks from Middleton's National Mustard Museum.

The Middleton Fire Department lent the police a rubber raft and a camera-equipped DJI Phantom quadrocopter drone used in search and rescue operations to locate Phiffer. He was hiding in the water, and when the police reached him "his shoes were floating away from him," along with a "large wad of cash," Wisconsin State Journal's Ed Trevelen reported. More cash and a hypodermic needle were found in his pocket.

Seems like the same thing as calling in a chopper, but a lot less expensive. Anyone know what the cost differential is?

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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Anne Nonymous on Monday July 06 2015, @02:27PM

    by Anne Nonymous (712) on Monday July 06 2015, @02:27PM (#205633)

    > Anyone know what the cost differential is?

    Sure, it's the difference between two costs, but that's not important now.

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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday July 06 2015, @04:14PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Monday July 06 2015, @04:14PM (#205705) Journal

    Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
    Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
    Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

    ###################################################

    Randy: Excuse me sir, there's been a little problem in the cockpit…
    Striker: The cockpit…what is it?
    Randy: It's the little room in the front of the plane where the pilots sit, but that's not important right now.

    #################################################

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---