Police say a drone illegally landed at a park near the White House, and two people were cited.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities cited a man for illegally flying a drone that crash-landed in a park near the White House early Friday morning.
The U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Park Police responded after the drone was spotted flying near the Washington Monument around 1:20 a.m. Friday. Officials confronted the operator after he lost control and the drone landed in the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House.
Howard Solomon III of Washington, D.C., was cited with launching, landing or operating an unmanned aircraft in a restricted area, and the drone and operating equipment were confiscated, park police said. Police say the citation carries an $85 fine.
Reached by phone Friday, Solomon said that he had been trying to take pictures of the monument and that the wind blew the drone across a street that divides the Ellipse from the grounds of the Washington Monument.
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“I was just flying trying to take pictures of the monument,” he said.
He said that when authorities confronted him, he was asked “a bunch of questions like I was a terrorist.”
Washington and communities within a 15-mile radius of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport are part of a “No Drone Zone” under rules adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Officials identified the drone as a model that can be purchased for about $65 on Amazon.com.
Officials said this was the ninth incident involving the illegal operation of an unmanned aircraft in a national park in the greater Washington area in 2015.
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Associated Press reporter Sarah Brumfield contributed to this report.
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