Report: Two arrested for flying drone over Michigan Stadium during season opener
Two people were arrested for allegedly flying a drone over Michigan Stadium during No. 7 Michigan’s 40-21 win against Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, according to The Detroit News.
Flying a drone is illegal on the University of Michigan’s campus, and the penalties for doing so may result in “criminal and/or civil penalties” which can include the loss of flying privileges, per the report.
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“We made contact with the drone pilots that night and made two arrests,” University of Michigan deputy chief of police Melissa Overton told The Detroit News.
“There’s a lot to it. We’re going to continue following up on all our leads and do everything we can do. It’s difficult to control airspace.”
Michigan Stadium is the largest college football stadium in the country, and had an announced attendance of 110,811 people for the season opener.
While the Michigan Department of Public Safety announced last month that it would be flying droves “at or near Michigan Stadium” on Fridays before home games throughout the season, it made it clear that it will not fly any on game days, per the report.
Richard Sheridan, a Michigan season-ticket holder, spotted the drone hovering above the game and posted a photo to social media later that night.
Drone over #Michigan #stadium. Legal? pic.twitter.com/E96NQPFUBd
— Richard Sheridan (@menloprez) September 1, 2019
“We looked up, we saw it, it was hovering there, and at first I thought, ‘Is this part of the television coverage? Is this a new way they’re filming?’” Sheridan said, via The Detroit News “It hovered in the south end of the stadium for what felt like a couple of minutes to me. It wasn’t doing anything threatening per se. It wasn’t swooping or anything like that. It was literally hovering there and then went over Stadium Boulevard and disappeared.
“You’re looking at it and you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a drone.’ It wasn’t a teeny-tiny drone, it wasn’t a huge drone, either, and whoever was controlling it was actually doing a pretty darn good job. Those things can be challenging at times, but it was just hanging there.”
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