New York Post – by MARK MORALES , KERRY BURKE
TWO MANHATTAN men were arrested early Monday after they piloted a drone close to the George Washington Bridge and nearly struck an NYPD helicopter, police sources said.
Wilkins Mendoza, 34, and Remy Castro, 23, were remotely piloting a DGI Phantom 2 drone as it flew near the Hudson River crossing, at about 800 feet in the air, around midnight, the sources said. An NYPD helicopter crew spotted the drone and observed the unmanned aircraft as it circled the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge over the Harlem River about 12:20 a.m., the sources said.
At one point, the NYPD helicopter pilot had to veer off course to avoid being struck by the drone, the sources said.
The helicopter crew followed the drone and watched it touch down at Fairview Ave. and Fort George Hill in Inwood.
Mendoza and Castro, both of Inwood, were arrested at the landing zone at 12:34 a.m., and police also recovered a second drone, the sources said.
RICHARD HARBUS/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSNYPD officials said the drone was spotted flying near the George Washington Bridge, at about 800 feet from the ground, before it nearly hit the police helicopter.Both men were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on a single felony count of Class D reckless endangerment, a charge stemming from the fact the pilot said he felt the drone endangered the NYPD helicopter.
But a prosecutor requested the men be released without bail, and a judge agreed.
A prosecutor told the judge that police reported the drone as having flown 2,000 feet in the air, but a defense attorney said the model used can only fly at heights of 300 feet.
With Shayna Jacobs
mmorales@nydailynews.com
Bahahahaaha!!! A felony to fly a drone 300 feet in the air and nearly hitting a chopper? Are you serious? That’s pathetic.
Man, these cop pigs will make a felony out of anything that effects them as long as it’s not illegal immigrants.
So basically, it’s OK for the government to fly drones, but not We the People. Watch them try to regulate the low level airspace now. Pretty soon we will need a permit to fly a radio controlled airplane or even a paper airplane. Pathetic.
Kites?
“a charge stemming from the fact the pilot said he felt the drone endangered the NYPD helicopter.”
AKA The infamous, “I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!” police line.
yeah. how come he didn’t just shoot it? sheep dip for brains i guess.
holy cow, that quad copter is $1400 with extra battery…
I can assure you that they can definitely fly over 300 feet in altitude.
They should have flown that thing into the tail rotor. Then the evidence would have been shredded.
As well as the cops.