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Police detect drone flying too close to Logan, track it to closed shelter on Long Island, arrest two men for being dumbasses
By adamg on Sun, 12/15/2024 - 12:53pm
Boston Police report arresting two of the three men they say were piloting a drone dangerously close to Logan Airport Saturday night.
Police say the three men were flying the drone around from a building at Boston's closed shelter complex on Long Island in Boston Harbor, and that the third man managed to flee harbor-unit officers, possibly in the small boat the three are believed to have used to get to the island, which is no longer accessible by land.
Robert Duffy, 42, of Charlestown and Jeremy Folcik, 32, of Bridgewater, are scheduled for arraignment in Dorchester Municipal Court Monday on a charge of trespassing, police say, adding, however, they could face additional charges. In September, federal officials charged a local man with violating national defense airspace for flying a drone over the Boston Marathon finish line.
According to police:
The incident began earlier that evening, at 4:30 PM, when a Boston Police Officer specializing in real-time crime surveillance detected an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operating dangerously close to Logan International Airport. Leveraging advanced UAS monitoring technology, the Officer identified the drone’s location, altitude, flight history, and the operators’ position on Long Island.
Recognizing the serious risks posed by the drone’s proximity to Logan’s airspace, additional resources were mobilized. The Boston Police Department coordinated with Homeland Security, the Massachusetts State Police, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Logan Airport Air Traffic Control to address the situation.
Police say Harbor Patrol officers docked at Long Island around 10:20 p.m. and spotted the three guys:
Two of the three individuals were apprehended and identified as Duffy and Folcik. During the investigation, a drone was discovered inside a backpack carried by Duffy.
The two suspects were transported to District A-1 for booking. A continued search for the third suspect, believed to have fled the island in a small vessel, was conducted by officers and the Massachusetts State Police.
Police add:
Operators are prohibited from flying drones over people or vehicles and must be aware of airspace restrictions. Even small drones pose significant risks, including the potential for catastrophic damage to airplanes and helicopters. Near-collisions can cause pilots to veer off course, putting lives and property at risk.
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Comments
In other drone news
Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, angrily demanded authorities do something about all the drones he photographed flying over his house - which people with more knowledge of the night skies than him promptly pointed out were, in fact, stars in the constellation Orion.
Authorities must have let out ….
….a groan when that became known.
Trump must be now wishing ...
he had picked Hogan to head NASA instead of the techbro Musk talked him into.
Made me think of that brilliant scene …
…. in Modern Family where Gloria shoots a drone.
AI Skeet
My cousin had a neighbor who would fly his drone off her bedroom balcony.
He stopped when he saw her take aim with her shotgun. He had told the cops that it didn't have a camera so what was the big deal blah blah ... so much for that.
Wait ...
Setting aside using them to blow things up or deliver fast food, what's the point of a drone without a camera?
I mean, sure, I remember when drones at retail prices first started coming out and the reviews editor at the computer-networking trade journal I then worked at got one for testing purposes, and he had lots of fun flying it around the newsroom just because he could, but that was a long time ago.
A friend had a very early drone
Back when they were a novelty, and he rigged up a GoPro on a gimbel with a remote connection to a screen. This was 2013ish? Pretty quickly they'd all ship with cameras.
That's what he told the cops
This was about 8 years ago. Local cop went to talk to him, and he claimed it didn't have a camera (of course it did ...).
He started flying it again near her bedroom window a couple weeks later - shortly after her husband left for work, as usual. When he saw her draw a bead on it with the shotgun (through the camera), he skeddaddled it out of there. She then put her full video on local blast on FB and NextDoor and she never saw it again.
Kind of anticlimactic - everyone really wanted to see her take it out.
Unless I'm mistaken
...drones are allowed to fly over private property and are considered aircraft by federal law. Shooting one down is therefore a federal offense, even if it's hovering near your window.
Yes, the law needs to be updated. No, it probably won't be.
Technically correct
However,
1. it is illegal to use drones to perv on and harass your neighbors. You can't use it to peep into windows at close range.
2. prosecutorial discretion - as in "what jury in a Western state ..."
3. pressing charges could lead to search warrants for contents of computers, as harassment charges would also be filed. Probably easier to just take the L, particularly given the prior police involvement, and not report it or complain about it.
Plus; Didn't you imply he
Plus; Didn't you imply he "Landed ("My cousin had a neighbor who would fly his drone off her bedroom balcony.)" it on her balcony a few posts back @SwirlyGrrl? That's not even close to he flew it by her balcony.
That's a big difference @necturus
Trespassing? What is on Long
Trespassing? What is on Long Island now that people are not allowed to be near? I agree that drones need to be regulated to avoid aircraft disaster. But trespassing.?
All those buildings are still city property
And have been off-limits since the place was evacuated. It'd be like getting caught in City Hall at 3 a.m. - yeah, it's a public building but ...
Long Island was so much more than the shelter
It's unfortunate that Long Island is only remembered for its notorious shelter, because it makes it too easy to forget all the social services Boston lost when it all abruptly closed due to the bridge issue in 2014. I remember 2 detox facilities, a female halfway house, a coed live-in housing program, and 2 all male live in housing programs, with hundreds of people working on and off the island, while waiting for housing or saving up for housing. There were some great well funded programs that helped a lot of people in such a great setting, away from the city both physically and psychologically. It's not a coincidence that things have gotten so much worse since it closed.
"National defense airspace?"
What has the Boston Marathon to do with national defense?
If I understand the law correctly
The FAA's authority to issue temporary flight restrictions (and generally to regulate airspace) is predicated upon "national defense."
Inquiring minds...
I want to know more about this:
I doubt BPD is running a radar system so how are they accomplishing this? Are they accessing some federal system? Are the drones backdoored so that LE can access their radio control traffic?
Robin Radar systems makes
Robin Radar systems makes these @Angry Dan:
https://www.robinradar.com/resources/10-counter-drone-technologies-to-de...