Hillsborough County deputies say 26-year-old Keilos Ferdinand returned to a Tampa residence on September 12 after being ordered to leave, then used a pocketknife to slash a car tire before deputies located him with help from a drone.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
, deputies trespassed Ferdinand from the residence on September 12, only for him to return to the same property that day. Deputies observed him slash a victim's car tire with a pocketknife, the agency said, and the Sheriff's Office's Drone Response Team located Ferdinand at the residence and guided ground units directly to him. He was taken into custody without incident, per the agency's account.
How the Drone Response Team Fits Into HCSO's Operations
Where HCSO's drone team fits
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, its Homeland Security Division oversees the Drone Response Team along with other specialized operations. In the Ferdinand case, HCSO said the team located him at the residence and guided ground units to him. The agency's account therefore documents the team performing an aerial-location and ground-unit-guidance role during the trespass and property-damage response.
In this case, the agency described the drone team's role as locating Ferdinand and directing ground deputies to his position.
That account provides a specific example of aerial support being used to help ground units respond to an active call.
A Pattern of High-Risk Deployments
This is not the first time HCSO has leaned on drones to manage a volatile call without escalating things on the ground. In April, the Drone Response Team worked alongside SWAT and crisis negotiators during a barricade situation on Pine Glen Circle in Tampa, helping take a double-homicide suspect into custody without incident, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has said. In July, deputies used drone surveillance during a domestic hostage situation in Ruskin, where a suspect was monitored from the air before ambushing approaching deputies, according to ClickOrlando.
What Charges Ferdinand Could Face
Under Florida Statute § 810.09, returning to a residence after being personally ordered to leave by a property owner or law enforcement officer constitutes trespass after warning, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Separately, intentionally damaging someone's property — such as slashing a car tire — is charged under Florida Statute § 806.13 as criminal mischief, with penalties ranging from a second-degree misdemeanor for damage of $200 or less up to a third-degree felony carrying as much as five years in prison if the damage exceeds $1,000, according to the Brancato Law Firm. That same analysis notes that damage from a single continuous course of conduct can be aggregated across multiple items or victims to meet felony thresholds.
The agency's account describes HCSO's use of aerial surveillance during the active trespass and property-damage call but does not provide details about warrant requirements or statewide criminal-trespass conviction statistics.
The underlying relationship between Ferdinand and the resident, along with the formal monetary assessment of the tire damage, has not been detailed in HCSO's public account of the incident.
