Drone bound for prison drops illicit package at school instead, Virginia cops say
A prison-bound drone dropped an illicit package at a neighboring school in Virginia this week.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said it got a call around 8:24 a.m. Monday from an employee at Brunswick Academy in Lawrenceville who said a “suspicious package” was found on the school’s grounds.
Brunswick Academy, which also has locations in North Carolina, is a “coeducational private school” that offers preschool and K-12 classes in a “Christian environment.”
Another witness told deputies they had seen a drone land on school grounds earlier that morning, around 5:40 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office. The person also told deputies they later saw a “dark colored sedan” pull into the school parking lot and grab the drone.
Deputies took the “suspicious package” and determined it was “obviously” meant to be dropped off at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, which is privately operated by The GEO Group, the sheriff’s office said.
When deputies opened the package, the sheriff’s office said they found several pounds of marijuana and tobacco, three cellphones and a “USB-C to lightning converter.”
“We have had numerous calls for service at the prison this year to include other drone sightings alleging the same criminal activity,” the sheriff’s office wrote Tuesday on Facebook.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing, and no other information had been released as of Wednesday.
Lawrenceville is in southern Virginia, about 70 miles from Richmond.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Drone bound for prison drops illicit package at school instead, Virginia cops say."
