See original story here: http://www.iconaerialmedia.com/2015/09/09/criminal-charges-filed-against-teacher-who-crashed-3dr-solo-drone-into-u-s-open/
It had a life of its own.
The lawyer defending the city science teacher accused of flying his drone into the Queens stadium hosting a U.S. Open match blamed the incident on the aircraft.
“The drone actually malfunctioned and got away from him,” attorney D. Andrew Marshall told the Daily News. “There was no malice intent.”
Daniel Verley, 26, a STEM teacher at a public school in Brooklyn, is currently charged with reckless endangerment for the Sept. 3 incident in which the 3D Robotics drone whizzed over the Louis Armstrong Stadium during a second round match between eventual tourney winner Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu, and careened into a section of empty seats.
The match was halted for about a minute after the crash landing.
“It was a little bit scary, I have to say,” Pennetta, the No. 26 seed from Italy, told reporters at the time.
Marshall maintained that his client had sent the drone up near the Unisphere before losing control of it on its second flight.
“He has no interest in tennis. He was actually there to photograph the sun setting on the Unisphere,” he said.
The drone issue drew rebukes from elected officials like Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, City Councilman Daniel Garodnick, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, who vowed to introduce federal legislation that would work to prevent drones from flying near airports or major events.
Marshall described Verley, who declined to comment on the pending case, as a professional photographer with no history of arrests.
“He was trying to fulfill his own intellectual curiosity in using the drone,” he said. “Ben Franklin flew kites, he flew a drone.”
Verley is due back in court Oct. 2.
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