South Bend police say they’ve made their first arrest with help from their new Drone as First Responder program.
Shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, an officer tried to stop a man driving a motorized minibike because it didn’t have a license plate. The man then led police on a chase, cutting through yards and on sidewalks, until officers gave up for safety.
But a crime analyst and drone pilot in the department’s Real Time Crime Center was following the pursuit and kept following it after officers stopped. The pilot saw the suspect hiding in the 600 block of River Avenue and told officers his location.
As officers arrested the 18-year-old, they found he had a gun that was reported stolen out of Mishawaka. He was taken to jail where he awaits a charging decision from prosecutors.
The arrest came a day after the department introduced the new drone at a press conference.
In announcing the arrest in a statement, the department reminded the community that the path of all the drone’s flights can be viewed eight hours later on their transparency hub website.
