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Guy Who Delayed AFC Championship Game with a Drone is from Delco and Facing Up to 4 Years in Prison
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
Remember that drone that delayed the AFC Championship game?
The “administrative timeout” in the Ravens – Chiefs game was caused by a drone, which was announced by CBS’ Jim Nantz, while CBS broadcast simultaneously shows…a drone shot of the stadium.
Nantz claims it wasn’t CBS’ drone (I believe him). pic.twitter.com/pSRk4dE73s
— RestoreSanity2024 (@RestoreSantity) January 28, 2024
Allegedly it was operated by the sticky and Twisted Tea-soaked hands of a guy from Delco (and maybe Chesco because apparently Chadds Ford is in both).
From Dillon Mullan at The Baltimore Sun:
A Pennsylvania man faces up to four years in federal prison and $350,000 in fines for allegedly flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during the first quarter of the AFC championship game last month.
NFL security temporarily suspended the game, and Maryland State Police tracked the movement of the drone from directly over the stadium to a landing spot about half a mile away, where FBI agents and state police located 44-year-old Matthew Hebert, of Chadds Ford, according to a news release.
Of course it all comes back to Delco. But I can’t lie, I love this dude’s reasoning for why he did it:
Hebert told officers that in the past, the application he uses to operate the drone would not allow him to fly the device when flight restrictions are in place, and he was surprised when the application allowed him to operate the drone during the game, according to the affidavit. Hebert allegedly flew the drone approximately 100 meters or higher for around two minutes, taking six photos and possibly a video. He has not been arrested, according to the affidavit. Hebert was operating a DJI Mini 2 model advertised as an ultralight and foldable drone quadcopter currently on sale for nearly $400 by Amazon, according to the affidavit.
And I know what you’re thinking. Wow Eagles fans ruining it for everyone per usual! Not so fast my friend:
FBI agent David Rodski said in the affidavit that Hebert, who was wearing a Ravens jersey when officers located him in the 500 block of South Sharp Street in the Otterbein neighborhood adjacent to the Inner Harbor, said he did not have any training for operating drones.
A Delco Ravens fan. Mixing those two accents is probably what a Natty Light would sound like if it could talk.
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com