Teens Used Camera Drone to Follow and Help Catch Boat Thieves
Drones are a source of beautiful pictures, captivating videos, and somewhat understandable anxiety, but a couple of teenagers vacationing in Washington recently turned theirs into a crime fighting tool.
14-year-old Chris Harris and his friend were spending some time on Camano Island in Washington State this week when they noticed a pair of boat thieves untying the teens’ own Zodiac boat and beginning to tow it away on Wednesday morning. The boys ran out yelling (and called 911) but the thieves took off. That’s when Harris had a brilliant idea.
He quickly set up and launched his DJI Phantom and followed the thieves at full speed, recording 4K video the whole time. They eventually lost track of the speedboat, but authorities used the video to figure out where the boat was probably going and, much to the boys relief, the police were waiting for the thieves when they arrived at their destination.
ABC says authorities are calling this a “highly unique and very interesting case”… we’d say. Turns out drones aren’t exclusively a tool for head injury.
(via NBC Bay Area via Engadget)
