FILE: A drone, similar to the one photographed, was used by a Utah couple to spy on neighbors, police say (Reuters)
A Utah mother and her boyfriend were arrested for allegedly using a drone to peer into the bedrooms and bathrooms of their neighbors.
Aaron Dennis Foote, 39, and Terisha Lee Norviel, 34 were arrested and charged last month with voyeurism by electronic equipment, the Desert News reported Tuesday.
Orem police said in December they recovered a drone that was being used to watch other people. Police were alerted to the drone after a man found the high-tech quadrocopter hovering outside his bathroom window. The man rushed outside his house, got into his truck and followed the drone, KUTV reported.
The drone landed in a church parking lot near the man’s house. The Desert News reported that when no one came around to claim the drone the man took it home and discovered hours of footage of the drone peering into the homes of houses around the neighborhood.
"There (were) multiple videos recording individuals inside their residences through windows. Some of the recordings were multiple stories high in apartment complexes,” a search warrant revealed Tuesday in 4th District Court.
Police said some of the video footage included the drone’s owner, Foote. The warrant said police were able to “identify the truck in the videos and able to locate the registered owner.”
Foote has a lengthy rap sheet, according to the Desert News. He’s been charged with burglary and theft several times. He had been charged with felony theft and burglary as recent as September. He was also accused of assaulting Norivel in August and was charged with voyeurism in a 2007 incident at a tanning salon.
Police were also investigating whether the couple violated FAA regulations with the device. As of Tuesday, no federal charges were filed.
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