Arnold Police say the department's use of a drone to search areas following traffic accidents helped officers find and arrest two men. City Council members previously agreed to spend $9,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funds to purchase the drone.
Maj. Clinton Wooldridge said Arnold Police began using the drone in July. After a traffic accident on July 28, it was deployed to find a 46-year-old St. Louis man. After a July 29 accident, a drone was used again and helped police find a 23-year-old St. Louis County man.
The drone also was used after a July 24 accident to search for suspects, Wooldridge said.
“It is invaluable,” he said of the drone. “We have had three incidents since July 24 that it has been used, and we were able to locate and arrest two suspects because of the drone.”
On the afternoon of July 28, St. Louis County Police tried to stop a 2004 Buick LeSabre on Meramec Bottom Road, and the driver reportedly fled. Arnold Police were alerted that the suspect was headed south on I-55 and that St. Louis County Police were no longer pursuing it, the report said.
An Arnold Police officer spotted the Buick on Richardson Road just before it ran into a 2008 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Juan Deleony Pena, 53, of Arnold. After the collision, the Equinox flipped over, and Pena was transported by Rock Township Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County, according to the report.
An update on Pena’s condition was not available.
After the accident, a 46-year-old St. Louis man got out of the Buick and reportedly ran into a wooded area. An officer used the drone and located the man in a wooded area behind the Circle K gas station, 2001 Richardson Road, and he was arrested, Arnold Police reported.
Arnold Police will seek charges against the man through the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for felony leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest, felony driving with a revoked license and driving in a careless and imprudent manner resulting in a collision, Wooldridge said.
On the morning of July 29, an Arnold Police officer saw a 23-year-old St. Louis County man driving a 2013 Chevrolet Camaro on Lonedell Drive near East Highview Drive, and reportedly swerving on the road. The officer tried to stop the man, but he allegedly sped away, the report said.
A short time later, though, the officer spotted the Camaro, which had gone off the side of Lonedell Road near Henley Wood Drive and struck a utility pole. No one was in the Camaro when the officer arrived, so the drone was deployed and the man was found near the scene of the accident, according to the report.
The man, who appeared to be intoxicated, was injured and taken by Rock Township Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County for treatment, according to the report.
Arnold Police will seek charges against him through the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for felony leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arresting, DWI, driving with a revoked license and multiple traffic violations, Wooldridge said.
Five days earlier, on July 24, officers used a drone to search for people who had been involved in a single-vehicle accident on St. John’s Church Road, Arnold Police said.
That morning an officer allegedly saw someone driving a 2010 BMW 328i and speeding south on Jeffco Boulevard. The officer tried to stop the car, but the driver, an 18-year-old St. Louis man, allegedly fled and the officer did not pursue him, the report said.
A short time later, it appeared the driver was traveling too fast on Jeffco Boulevard when he tried to turn onto St. John’s Church Road, and the BMW hit a storm drain and curb and was disabled on the road, according to the report.
When the officer investigated the accident, he discovered no one was in the car but there was alcohol in it. Officers found the driver and a passenger, whose age and town were not listed, and the drone was used to determine no one else was fleeing in the area, Woodridge said.
The driver was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol, Arnold Police reported.
Wooldridge said two Arnold Police officers currently have completed training and each one has received a drone pilot license to operate the device. He said a third officer is training and plans to take the Federal Aviation Administration drone pilot license test.
“The test is really extensive and extremely difficult to pass,” Wooldridge said. “It takes a lot of time to pass the test, and our officers are doing it on their own time. Our goal is to have at least one pilot on each platoon, so hopefully there will always be someone on duty who can pilot it.”