A Pennsylvania man and total goofus maloofus has been charged with illegally flying a drone over Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium during the NFL’s AFC Championship game between the Ravens and Chiefs at the end of last month. When the drone appeared overhead, it temporarily halted the game, which you’d hope would have served as a reset for the Ravens, but us Chiefs-haters had no such luck.
Anyway, Matthew Herbert of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, was charged with three felony counts related to using an unregistered drone, serving as an airman without a certificate and violating national defense airspace on January 28, according to the Associated Press. To be fair, the Chiefs violated the Raven’s defense, and they haven’t been charged yet.
Sorry, I’m still upset about this game. Back to the story. Drones are apparently barred from flying within three miles of stadiums that seat at least 30,000 people during events, an hour before they start and an hour after the end, the AP reports.
Herbert, who was wearing a Ravens jersey was visiting the home of a friend in Baltimore for the game, and he told cops he didn’t know about the restrictions around the stadium during the game. The app he controlled the drone with had previously prevented Herbert from operating the drone due to flight restrictions, but that wasn’t the case this time. Because of that, he assumed he could operate it, according to an affidavit reported by the outlet.
Here’s what went down during the game, according to the Associated Press:
Hebert flew the drone about 100 meters (330 feet) or higher for about two minutes, capturing six photos of himself and the stadium and may have taken a video too, but he didn’t know that his flight had disrupted the game until he was approached by a trooper, according to the affidavit.
[…]
Maryland State troopers followed the unidentified and unapproved drone to a nearby neighborhood where it landed and found Hebert, who admitted to operating the drone, FBI Special Agent David Rodski wrote in an affidavit. Hebert told troopers and FBI agents that he bought the drone online in 2021 and used an app to operate it, but he didn’t have any training or a license to operate a drone.
If Herbert is ultimately convicted, he faces a maximum of three years in federal prison for knowingly operating an unregistered drone and for knowingly serving as an airman without an airman’s certification. He also faces an additional maximum sentence of one year in federal prison for willfully violating United States national defense airspace. AP says an initial appearance and arraignment are expected to be scheduled by the end of February.
Listen, I know this guy broke the law, but he had to watch his team get destroyed by the Chiefs in the playoffs at home. Isn’t that punishment enough? Poor guy.
