{"id":24600,"date":"2025-02-09T04:04:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T04:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=24600"},"modified":"2025-02-09T04:04:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T04:04:05","slug":"breaking-feds-charge-man-with-flying-drone-over-ravens-steelers-playoff-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=24600","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Feds charge man with flying drone over Ravens-Steelers playoff game"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pregame festivities on Jan. 11 as the Ravens hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs.<\/span>\u00a0(Jerry Jackson\/The Baltimore Banner)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A man was charged Friday with flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during the AFC wild-card matchup between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, which led officials to\u00a0momentarily stop the game.<\/p>\n

Alexis Perez Suarez, 43, of Baltimore, faces three counts in U.S. District Court in Baltimore stemming from allegations that he operated a drone over the stadium Jan. 11 despite a temporary flight restriction. Law enforcement also claims he neither registered the drone nor obtained a remote pilot license.<\/p>\n

Referees stopped the game for a few minutes, before the Steelers ran a play on second-and-1 in the third quarter. The Ravens\u00a0won<\/a>\u00a028-14 but\u00a0fell<\/a>\u00a0the next weekend to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC divisional round.<\/p>\n

Suarez made his initial appearance after 4 p.m. in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles D. Austin, who ordered him to be released pending trial. He must remain in Maryland but can travel to Virginia and Washington for work.<\/p>\n

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The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors.\u00a0B<\/a>ecome one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cGood luck to you, Mr. Perez Suarez,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldaris requested that Suarez be prohibited from possessing and operating a drone or unmanned aircraft while he awaits trial.<\/p>\n

Suarez\u2019s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Christina Wong, said her client would consent to that condition.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek Barron said, \u201cWe are very serious about temporary flight restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will be charged and held accountable for any incursion into restricted airspace, including around sports and entertainment venues such as the Super Bowl,\u201d Barron said.<\/p>\n

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The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors.\u00a0Become one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

During a temporary flight restriction, certain aircraft including drones are banned from operating within 3-nautical-mile radius of a stadium. They\u2019re standard practice during sporting events.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s office, FBI agents and Maryland state troopers tracked the movement of the drone and identified Suarez as the operator.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are going to fly a drone, you are responsible for learning all the laws and requirements to responsibly operate it,\u201d said William DelBagno, special agent in charge of the FBI\u2019s Baltimore Field Office, in a statement. \u201cFailing to do so will not excuse you from the consequences of breaking the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, a man\u00a0pleaded guilty\u00a0to knowingly or willfully violating U.S. national defense airspace by\u00a0flying\u00a0a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during the AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He was sentenced to spend one year on probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.<\/p>\n

The National Football League has spent money\u00a0lobbying<\/a>\u00a0for safety laws and reported that during the 2023 season there were 2,845 drone incursions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pregame festivities on Jan. 11 as the Ravens hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs.\u00a0(Jerry Jackson\/The Baltimore Banner) A man was charged Friday with flying a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING : Feds charge man with flying drone over Ravens-Steelers playoff game - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=24600\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : Feds charge man with flying drone over Ravens-Steelers playoff game - 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