Video: Drone Helps Ariz. Police Foil Art Theft, Cornering Thief on Roof

By Tom Scanlon

Source East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Ariz.)

The old saying "you can run — but you can't hide" is even more emphatically true in the era of police drones.

Before sunrise the morning of Jan. 7, Scottsdale Police officers responded to a report of an in-progress burglary at the American Fine Art gallery on Scottsdale Road and Main Street in the heart of Old Town.

"An employee at the gallery reported hearing someone inside," according to Aaron Bolin, a police spokesman.

Responding officers set a perimeter and launched a drone for a better look.

Bolin gave credit to a high-tech device: "With the assistance of a patrol drone, the suspect was contained to the roof."

The man, who originally gave a false identity to police but was later identified as Harpreet Singh, was arrested. Paintings by Picasso and Warhol worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and burglary tools were found near him on the roof.

Singh was released from custody after posting bail — but in March, "a pretrial services warrant was issued for his arrest due to an allegation that (Singh) removed or tampered with his electronicmonitoring device and has absconded from pretrial supervision."

On June 20, Singh "refused transport" from his jail cell to the courthouse for a bond forfeiture hearing.

But Singh did make it to court July 8, appearing before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Spencer for a "fugitive from justice."

According to court records, Singh was "informed of a warrant for arrest out of the state of California."

California would like to extradite Singh to face trial there, according to the trial record.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell filed an "allegation of aggravating circumstances" against Singh in March.

Mitchell noted Singh has a previous felony conviction, "lied to police to hinder their investigation" and "has another similar case pending."

And, Mitchell stated, Singh "has poor moral character" — with little likelihood of rehabilitation.

The court ordered Singh to be held without bail until his extradition.

Singh's trial at Maricopa County Superior Court is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 12 — but likely will be delayed, as a Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokeswoman confirmed Singh was extradited to California. (Editor's note: Singh is expected to go to trial in April in Arizona.)

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