Drone helps Ohio deputies track down man accused of firing shotgun at home
By Rachel Whelan
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BURLINGTON, Kentucky (WLWT) — Boone County deputies say drone technology helped them track down a man accused of firing a shotgun at a home before hiding in the woods for hours.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office released drone and body camera video showing the moments deputies located and arrested 56-year-old Richard Zornes Wednesday morning.
Deputies say the incident began just after 1 a.m. Wednesday on Locust Grove Road in Burlington.
Investigators say Zornes arrived at a home armed with a shotgun and confronted a woman he had been in an on-and-off relationship with. During the confrontation, deputies say Zornes fired a shot that grazed the woman’s head.
No serious injuries were reported.
Authorities say Zornes fled the scene, prompting a search that lasted several hours.
When daylight arrived, deputies deployed a drone near Zornes’ home on Rabbit Hash Hill Road, a rural area in Boone County.
Drone footage released by the sheriff’s office shows the aircraft flying over wooded terrain before spotting Zornes moving around near a tent in the woods.
Deputies say the drone operator was then able to track Zornes as he left the tent and walked back toward his home.
Body camera video shows deputies moving in and taking him into custody.
Major Philip Ridgell with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said drone technology has become an important tool for law enforcement.
“What we have accomplished with the drones, I think, is something that is absolutely a game changer in our industry,” Ridgell said.
Ridgell said drones also help protect deputies by allowing them to monitor suspects from above before officers move in on the ground.
While the technology helped locate a suspect in this case, Ridgell said drones are most often used to search for missing people.
“Especially children who have found themselves in rural or dangerous parts of the county — creeks and waterways and things of that nature– the into the drones has paid for itself 100 times over,” Ridgell said.
Zornes later appeared in court where he faced charges including attempted murder in a domestic violence case, wanton endangerment, terroristic threatening and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
He is currently being held in the Boone County Jail on a $1 million cash bond.
Ridgell also said the Boone County Sheriff’s Office was recently approved to upgrade its drone fleet as part of the sheriff’s latest budget.
The department expects the new drones to be deployed in the field in the near future.
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