Del City police’s new drone program assists in apprehending juvenile car theft suspects

The Del City Police Department is already seeing success with its new Drone program.

It was implemented in September, after the City Council approved the purchase of seven drones, five of which have thermal capabilities.

The police department says within weeks of the drones being issued to officers in the field, they’ve already helped with the apprehension of three potentially dangerous suspects.

Last Friday, officers located a stolen car in the area of SE 44th and Sooner Road.

Officers tried to pull the driver over, but the suspect took off, leading the officers on a short chase.

Police say when the car came to a stop, three suspects ran off.

Within minutes, officers deployed a thermal drone.

The department says this allowed officers to immediately locate all three suspects and take them into custody.

When officers returned to the car, the department says they located ski-masks and a gun inside.

During an interview with investigators, the suspects reportedly admitted to targeting Kia and Hyundai vehicles with a USB cable that allowed them to quickly steal these types of vehicles.

All three suspects are juveniles, so police are not releasing their names.