State police chase photographer from sky

MONROE-A pilot who circled the Monroe and Woodbury areas for two hours Tuesday got a police escort out of the sky. Sgt. Bruce Furbeck, State Police station commander, said troopers got a call around 3:15 p.m. at the Monroe barracks of a suspicious aircraft flying over the Village of Kiryas Joel. Its identification numbers couldn't be read because the plane was flying so high. Meanwhile, Town of Woodbury Police were watching as the plane was buzzing over their station on Route 32 in Highland Mills. Both agencies simultaneously put in a call for the State Police Aviation Unit to investigate. Residents watched from streets and lawns as the police helicopter roared after the small gray plane. The state police pilot, however, could not maintain radio communication with the plane's pilot, which Furbeck said raised suspicions even further. Eventually, the aircraft landed at the Warwick Airport where it was met by State Police units. Investigators interrogated the pilot, who told them that he worked for American Aerial Services in upstate Pompey and had been hired to do an aerial photo shoot of the Ace Farm property on County Route 105. Ace Farm is adjacent to Kiryas Joel. The communications problem arose because the pilot was not tuned to a more commonly used frequency on which the state police were broadcasting, police said. No violations were issued. "It was non-criminal in nature," Furbeck said.