A college student in Bologna, Italy, picked up a drone that landed on his apartment's terrace last October, and then tried to sell it over the Internet. He was arrested Saturday after police managed to track the 24-year-old down.
EyeSky's Microdrone has been used before to assist the local government — it helped assess the damage caused by a 6.0 earthquake last year, and surveyed the damage caused by an illegal off-road truck rally in a city park, ArsTechnica reports. On a demonstration flight in October over the University of Bologna, the drone lost its GPS signal and made an emergency landing.
The students subsequently put the drone up for auction on Subito.it, an Italian auction site, for €1,000. The plane normally costs $40,000. In a drawn-out process almost Sherlockian in nature, police first noted the serial number and brand name the student listed on the auction site, confirming that it was the same one as the missing drone. The student included EyeSky's name along with the make and model of the drone, so a quick Google search probably could have turned it up, though it took a while for the force to finally track it down. The student listed the drone as "almost new," but missing a remote because he claimed he dropped it from a great height.
Once police found the drone on Subito, they posed as curious potential buyers, asking for additional information. Officers used his email address to locate his general area (he had created an account on a dating website with it), and then pinpointed his location by matching photos with the view outside his apartment window. The student was charged with misappropriation of lost property, and could end up with a year in jail and fines.
What we learned from this incident: if a drone lands on your porch and you have no intention of turning it in to official authorities, don't post it online. If you want to sell it, at least try to erase your tracks.
