A man accused of breaking into one home and trying to break into a second was caught hiding in the bushes of a nearby yard after a police drone tracked him through the dark, officers say. The suspect, who had prior home invasion convictions and was on parole at the time, is now facing a felony charge that could send him to prison for life.
The arrest happened on October 7 near McMillan and Oak Streets, after dispatch received a 911 call about an attempted home invasion in progress, according to ClickOnDetroit. While dispatchers were still gathering information from the caller, Dearborn Police launched a Drone as First Responder above the scene, a program the department has leaned on heavily since its launch earlier this year.
The drone spotted a suspect running through the neighborhood, police said, and officers used its night-vision technology to track him as he fled and tried to hide. He was eventually located hiding in bushes and taken into custody without incident, according to the outlet's report. Footage released by police shows the aerial night-vision view of the chase, from the suspect's flight through yards to the moment officers moved in.
Charges Carry Decades-Long Exposure
Dearborn investigators have said the suspect allegedly succeeded in entering one home and attempted to break into a second before he was spotted, according to a statement cited in a Dearborn Police Department post
. A judge set his bond at $5,000 on a personal bond with GPS monitoring. On October 9, he was formally charged with one count of first-degree home invasion, one count of possession of burglary tools, and one count of being a four-time habitual offender.
First-degree home invasion is a Class B felony under Michigan law, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, per Michigan criminal defense attorneys. Because the suspect has prior felony convictions, prosecutors also charged him under Michigan's Fourth Habitual Offender statute, which allows a judge to hand down a sentence of up to life in prison for a defendant with three or more prior felonies who commits a new felony punishable by five years or more, according to a Michigan Legislature bill analysis.
A Pioneering Drone Program With a Track Record
Dearborn became the first municipality in Michigan to deploy a full-scale Drone as First Responder program, equipping officers with Skydio aerial drones launched from strategic points around the city, according to the City of Dearborn. Drones can provide aerial thermal and visual monitoring to any location in the city within 2.5 minutes of a dispatch call, the city says.
That speed matters in cases like this one, where a suspect on foot in the dark can disappear between houses before patrol cars even arrive. Dearborn has also invested in a FUSUS-powered crime center.
Part of a Broader Pattern
This is not the first time Dearborn's drone program has assisted police. In April, Dearborn police used the DFR system in a search for a missing child. Police have also used drones to assist with fleeing suspects.
Dearborn burglaries fell 40% in 2025. The drone program's rollout also included transparency measures: flight data will be publicly available through an online dashboard.
