A New York City teacher was arrested for allegedly crashing a drone into empty seats during a U.S. Open second-round match at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens on Thursday.
The match, which pitted Flavia Pennetta of Italy against Romania's Monica Niculescu, was interrupted after the device flew diagonally across the stadium and crashed. Daniel Verley, 26, was arrested Friday on charges of reckless endangerment and operating a drone in a New York City public park outside of a prescribed area, according to ESPN.
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Verley, who teaches at the Academy of Innovative Technology in Brooklyn, was found at a marina on the opposite side of Citi Field following the incident.
The drone crashed at 8:30 p.m. during the day's final match in a stadium that holds up to 10,000 people. Had there been spectators in the seats, Pennetta noted their likely would have been injuries. The match was supposed to take place on a smaller court, but was moved to the stadium when four other contests wrapped up quicker than expected.
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No one was injured in the crazy event, but everyone was startled when the device buzzed over the stadium before crashing into pieces upon hitting the vacant seats. Pennetta said she initially thought it was a bomb and was frightened.
"A little bit scary, I have to say," Pennetta, who won her match 6-1, 6-4, told ESPN. "With everything going on in the world ... I thought, 'OK, it's over.' That's how things happen."
Pennetta said there was some confusion over what it was and she believed the chair umpire wasn't completely sure. The match was shortly delayed between points so that police could investigate what had happened.
After the slight break, the match went off without any other hitches.
"All of these [security measures]," Pennetta said, "and then it comes in from above."
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