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Bucks Man Convicted Of Shooting Down Police Drone Gets Prison Time

A Middletown man will spend up to 22 years in prison for gunning down a police drone during his arrest last year, among other charges. 

A drone

A drone

Photo Credit: Pixabay/ Thomas Ehrhardt

John Palaio Jr., 51, was previously convicted of 19 counts — including seven felonies — at a waiver trial before Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller in May, the District Attorney's Office said. 

Police were serving an arrest warrant at Palaio's Pleasant Avenue home last July 6 on drug and weapons charges, the DA's Office said. 

Authorities launched a surveillance drone to confirm that he was on the property, but the operator heard shots and lost contact with the drone midflight, police said. 

A short while later, Palaio was seen fleeing the home on a motorcycle, according to Middletown police. Officers gave chase but the 51-year-old "failed to stop" and pulled into his garage, the DA's Office said. 

Officers set up a perimeter around the garage but Palaio escaped on foot, authorities said. He was arrested days later by US Marshals, they added. 

Inside his home, police said they found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and firearms. 

At his sentencing hearing on Friday, June 30, Palaio was sentenced to 11 to 22 years in state prison, the DA's Office said. 

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