WASHINGTON — The U.S. Park Police made an arrest Thursday after uniformed Secret Service officers saw a man flying a small, remote-controlled aircraft over Lafayette Park north of the White House.
Park Police identified the man as Ryan MacDonald, 39, of Vacaville, Calif. He was charged with violating the federal no-fly zone and ordered to appear in court, said Sgt. Lelani Woods.
The helicopter-like device flew as high as 100 feet in the air before officers spotted it, detained its owner and asked him to land it, Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said. The Metropolitan Police Department examined the device and declared it safe.
The incident began at about 1:09 p.m. and forced a lockdown of the White House and the closure of Lafayette Park, which is in the jurisdiction of the Park Police. President Obama was at Camp David meeting with heads of state from Persian Gulf countries when it happened, and the lockdown was lifted within an hour.
And it came just a day after the Federal Aviation Administration declared the nation's capital a "No Drone Zone" and launched a "Leave Your Drone at Home" public awareness campaign.
