Hollister Police used a drone to locate and arrest a man who tried to evade officers by hiding on the roof of a local apartment complex, authorities said.
About 1am Jan. 2, a Hollister Police officer was on patrol when he noticed a man riding a bicycle in violation of the vehicle code in the area of Rajkovich Drive and Fourth Street, police said in a press release. The officer made a traffic stop, but the suspect fled the area.
The suspect eventually hid in the attic area of an apartment complex at Miller Road and Fourth Street, police said. More officers and San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies responded and set up a perimeter around the residential building.
Some of the officers noticed the man on the roof of one of the apartment buildings. Two officers deployed Hollister Police Department drones to search areas on the roof and inside the building where the suspect might be hiding, authorities said.
The man, identified as Luis Felipe Abonce-Ramirez, 31, was found hiding in a maintenance section of the building, which had access to the roof, police said. Abonce-Ramirez was arrested and found to be in possession of narcotics and paraphernalia. There were also two warrants for the suspect’s arrest.
Police said Abonce-Ramirez was later booked at San Benito County Jail on suspicion of drug charges, warrants and resisting arrest.
“The Hollister Police Department’s trained and licensed pilots once again demonstrated the usefulness and benefits to our community of our drone program,” says the press release from Hollister PD. “They were used to safely conduct searches and aided staff by conducting the searches in a timely manner with mitigating or reducing risks for personnel.”
The Hollister Police Department posted a video containing footage of the drone’s Jan. 2 search for Abonce-Ramirez. The video can be viewed on Youtube at
