ST. LOUIS — A police drone video shows the role of technology in ending a 19-hour standoff peacefully. It happened in a Randolph County home, where a murder convict was hiding.
62-year-old Stephen Thorp ignored U.S. Marshal orders when you could see him strike down a drone with his gun.
Federal prosecutor Ryan Finlen said, “When you watch the video, you realize how tense the situation was.”
Finlen says no one was hurt, including that dog seen in the video.
He added, “The defendant is also alive and well and he was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon.”
Drone policing is becoming more common, like a recent St. Charles Police example where the technology helped locate a car break-in suspect.
St. Charles Police Lt. Dan Gibbons explained how the technology helped them respond more quickly than their helicopter.
“We could get real-time information from the other officers in the area, and they were able to conduct a foot pursuit and capture that suspect, and he was wanted for stealing a firearm.”
Lt. Gibbons says drones are also useful to respond to large crowds in order to quickly determine where disturbances might be.
He says his department also had a tense case, similar to the Randolph County incident, where they had concerns that a shooter was hiding in an attic.
“We don’t want to put our heads up in an attic, not knowing who’s up there,” Gibbons said. “Sometimes we use pole cameras, but a lot of times officers are just slowly going up into that attic.”
Identifying a suspect’s location can then give officers room to be patient.
Prosecutor Finlen said, “That strength is multiplied by their patience because they can wait out and wait for a good opportunity. That’s what happened here.”
19-hours and three shifts by SWAT kept officers fresh and ended an incident that had all the signs of turning tragic into a conviction with no injuries and a defendant who will remain locked up for years.
