Texas police investigating a drone that flew over stadium during North Texas game
Drones may be the future of college football film, but they're not the present. Especially unauthorized drones.
Texas officials are investigating a student who was flying a drone over Darrel K. Royal-Memorial Stadium during Saturday's game between North Texas and Texas. Campus police tracked the drone and found the operator of it, who was detained for questioning.
Yes, detained over a drone.
From a UT Police statement to KXAN.com:
“UTPD observed an unauthorized drone in and around the Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium and watched as it maneuvered and landed on San Jacinto. Officers located the operator, a UT student, who was detained and transported to the police station. The drone was seized, the student identified, questioned and released pending further investigation.
There are no charges pending for the use of the drone. Because drones are relatively new, they're governed under model airplane rules up to 400 feet in the air. If someone takes images of property without the owner's consent, the fine can be $1,000 per image under Texas law.
Louisville raised the possibility of flying drones over games this season depending on the drones' legality. However, those would clearly be authorized drones and ones that security would presumably know about. Like cameras attached to quarterbacks' helmets, schools have been using drones to get better aerial images at practices.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
