Last night, a drone crashed in the stands during a U.S. Open match in Flushing, Queens. And the drone's operator was a NYC public school teacher!
Around 8:40 p.m., the drone flew into the luckily empty spectator seating area during a match between Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu at the Louis Armstrong Stadium. According to NBC NewYork, "The black device flew diagonally through the arena" before crashing into pieces. From Newsday:
Video of the match showed the players suddenly startled by something in the stands. Cameras then panned to a vacant section of stands to show the small black drone that had crashed on stairs in an empty section of the stadium -- with emergency personnel and security examining the scene.
No one was injured.
Police found Daniel Verley, 26, in a marina outside the stadium, across from Citifield. Verley surrendered and was charged with reckless endangerment, reckless operation of a drone and operating a drone in a NYC public park outside of prescribed area for doing so.
Verley is a high school science teacher as well as a photographer.
Pennetta, who won in straight sets, said she thought it could have been a bomb, "A little bit scary, I have to say... With everything going on in the world ... I thought, 'OK, it's over.' That's how things happen."
