Suffolk County police arrested a woman for stealing from a Commack store after she was located utilizing a Suffolk County Police Department drone.
On December 10, Second Precinct officers responded to Dick’s Sporting Goods, located at 6070 Jericho Turnpike in Commack, for a report of a shoplifting in progress at 6:04 p.m. Police arrived on scene and observed three women and a man leaving the store before fleeing westbound. One of the women, Anamaria Guzman, entered a 2025 Hyundai Sonata and fled westbound before crashing the vehicle on Tulsa Street. Guzman fled the crash on foot and supervisors activated the Drones as First Responders (DFR) program at 6:20 p.m. to the area of Tulsa Street, Huntington, where the woman was last seen.
The drone, which was being operated from the Crime Analysis Center at Police Headquarters in Yaphank and launched from the Second Precinct, utilized thermal imaging scans and located Guzman sitting in a backyard on Tulsa Street at 6:26 p.m. Officers were directed to the location and she was taken into custody approximately one minute later.
Guzman, 23, of Hempstead, was transported to an area hospital for evaluation following the crash. She was charged with three counts of Petit Larceny; Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Physical Injuries; Reckless Driving; and Unlawful Fleeing.
A second woman, Mercedes Hough, 21, of Hempstead, fled the store on foot and was stopped in the parking lot. She was charged with Petit Larceny and Possession of Burglar’s Tools.
The man and woman, who have not been identified by police, were not apprehended.
Both women were released on a Desk Appearance Ticket and will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.