Fleeing suspect located with thermal drone imagery
A traffic stop turned into a foot pursuit when the driver fled into nearby woods, putting officers at risk by entering an unknown situation in the dark. Within a few minutes of deploying a Skydio drone, the suspect was located in the woods using the drone’s thermal imagery, and responding officers were provided overwatch as they searched for the suspect. Watch the video to see how the drone was used to help mitigate risk and provide eyes in the sky for officers on the ground.
- [engine revving] Yeah, all right.
- Deputy Ram, get me a perimeter kid going willow.
- [door opening]
- I observed the vehicle, and I turned around on it to initiate a
- traffic
- stop. The vehicle began to flee prior to me even
- activating my emergency
- lights on it. As I turned a corner onto Candleberry
- Street, the vehicle was already
- stopped, the driver's door was open, and the passengers were outside of the
- vehicle, and they were stating that the driver had fled.
- When I got here, they were already out of the truck,
- and they said that the driver
- bailed out foot out here in these woods.
- In that area, it's a very rural area, so we typically have just a couple
- deputies out there. So to set up a good perimeter
- is very hard.
- I called for our drone assets. Once it got airborne, we
- began to go ahead and do a survey of the area
- [radio chatter] using thermal imaging
- sensors to try to locate a heat signature.
- [drone buzzing]
- This gets pitch dark. So you have some streetlights,
- but it gets pitch dark, and
- then the terrain is different. When we're there,
- we can't see 10 feet into the
- woods. We can't see five feet into the woods.
- We can basically see where our headlights go, and then that is it.
- So you have palm fronds, you have all the shrubs,
- you have everything like that
- going in there. You could hide in a lot very easily in
- Flagler
- County.
- [tense music]
- Deputy Moorhead and I were able to locate a heat signature in
- the brush
- line about 50 to 60 yards from my location.
- 1-10 to 2-23. Jen, directly below us now.
- I think he's right over on... He, he's gonna be, like,
- right over here somewhere.
- So in this part, Deputy Moorhead actually identified the
- heat signature right here,
- and then Deputy Prevatt's in the vehicle, which he's gonna pull up, and
- Deputy Moorhead's trying to guide us to where the subject is.
- Should be in, in these pine trees right here, Jen.
- You wanna grab your guys'
- Should we flank him?
- Yeah. He's not coming out.
- [tense music] I think he's behind that tree,
- which is why we can't see him.
- That one?
- Yeah.
- Oh, I see him.
- He's right, he's right there.
- Right there. Yeah.
- There he is. Jen,
- stack up. We were able to get what we call our REACT
- team, which is a
- team of about three to four deputies available, and make contact
- with the individual. [radio beeping]
- Where?
- To the right of that tree.
- To the right of this tree?
- Yeah. You'll see him. He's wearing black.
- All right.
- [footsteps crunching]
- Sheriff's Office. Put your hands up. Put your hands up. Do it now.
- Hands up.
- Put your hands up. Do it now.
- Hands up.
- You're gonna get tased.
- Walk.
- Walk.
- Do I have anything on me?
- Walk.
- Perfect. Now put your hands up.
- Walk.
- I don't have nothing right there.
- Turn around.
- Copy.
- The drone provides us with a level of safety and security that
- we're not walking into a situation blindly, and we, we have eyes.
- And we know where the subject is at, and we know where we need to be
- looking and where we can disregard to an extent, and that really
- provides a level of safety that is paramount in law enforcement.
- Definitely a scenario that you have to think outside the box
- and try to figure out
- what resources you're using. We had the resources in-house, and we
- were able
- to do everything very quickly. Without the drone or air support,
- we wouldn't have found him. [dramatic whoosh]
- [tense music]
Watch Time
3 Mins 4 Secs