Drone catches man hiding under dock after strangling girlfriend, Washington cops say

A man ran away from police over the weekend after he strangled his girlfriend in Anacortes, Washington — but he couldn’t hide from their drone, authorities said.

Police were called to the Swinomish Casino RV lot on Saturday around 1 a.m. to investigate reports that a man had beaten his girlfriend, strangling her so severely she couldn’t breathe, Swinomish police wrote in a Facebook post. The girlfriend had other injuries as well, police said.

A security officer told police the man had last been spotted as he fled east along some railroad tracks, away from the RV lot, according to police.

Police said the suspect, 29-year-old Justin T. Etier, also had a warrant for a parole violation in Missouri related to robbery charges, KOMO reports. Police wrote in the Facebook post that he “had multiple officer safety alerts for being armed and dangerous and known to assault police.”

Swinomish police worked with Skagit County deputies and Anacortes officers to contain Etier, as Swinomish and Skagit County authorities launched a drone with a thermal imaging camera to figure out where Etier was hiding, KIRO reports.

And the drone did its job: The infrared camera showed Etier was “hiding under a dock, concealing himself under a driftwood tree along the Swinomish Channel,” police said.

Deputies and police officers used that knowledge to find Etier beneath the pier and arrest him without incident, according to police. He’s been booked at the Skagit County Community Justice Center on charges of felony domestic violence.

“Great teamwork by all involved,” Swinomish police said.

This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 6:36 PM.