Just because the Toledo Police Department won’t use its “first responder” drone for routine patrol doesn’t mean its pilot won’t pause it for a closer look at suspicious activity while on a run.

That proved to be the situation during the drone’s first official response Monday, which resulted the arrests of two people observed in a gun hand-off, Police Chief Michael Troendle said Wednesday afternoon.

Pilot James Macklin was flying the craft in an area where a TPD traffic surveillance camera alerted to a potential stolen car when he decided to take a closer look at an armed man handing a weapon to another man.

Police made two more arrests Tuesday after a department pilot flew the DJI Matrice quadcopter drone to a shots-fired call and spotted two juvenile suspects at the scene before patrol

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