Orem police looking for owner of peeping drone


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OREM — Police are looking for a person who they believe has been using a drone to look into people's bedrooms and bathrooms and record video.

Over the weekend, an Orem man got up early to get ready for work.

"He's in his bathroom when he hears a humming noise, and says to himself, 'That sounds a lot like a drone,'" said Orem Police Lt. Craig Martinez.

The man got into his truck and followed the drone in an attempt to find the owner. The drone landed in a church parking lot but no one claimed it, Martinez said. The man picked up the drone and called police.

When detectives examined what the drone had recorded, they found "several videos of looking into people's bathrooms and people's bedrooms," he said.

The videos also showed images of the suspected drone owner flying the quadcopter. Martinez said detectives were able to identify the suspect as someone who has been convicted of voyeurism in the past by peering over the walls at tanning salons.

In this case, police believe the suspect flies the drone early in the morning when it's still dark and looks for lights that come on in windows. In one video, the drone peered into a third story apartment window.

"Obviously there's no accidents here. Reasonably, these people have an expectation to privacy, especially on a third floor," Martinez said. "This is not general recreation flying. There is malicious intent behind this, from what we can see."

@OremDPSpic.twitter.com/v83JetMkHR — Orem Police Dept. (@OremDPS) December 5, 2016

Police know where the drone owner lives but say they have been unable to locate him. On Sunday, the police department posted a message directed at the suspected owner to "turn yourself in before we have to come knocking at your door, maybe on Christmas morning, with a warrant."

Police did not release the suspected drone owner's name on Monday.

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Pat Reavy

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