Play Stopped While Police Investigated The Incident

The score was 5-4 in a tennis match Thursday night between Flavia Pennetta, the number 26 tennis player in the world, and Monica Niculescu, when an uninvited guest dropped into Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Quite literally ... a UAV crashed on the court, forcing the New York City Police Department to halt play while they investigated.

USA Today reports that the aircraft flew over the grandstand before entering Armstrong Stadium. Pennetta said she was "a little bit scared" when the quadcopter crashed onto the court. No one was injured.

When play resumed, both players seemed to be a little bit off their game, at least for a while. Pennetta eventually went on to win the match 6-1, 6-4.

ESPN reports that the operator was found early Friday morning in a marina near CITI Field shortly after the incident. Daniel Verley, a 26-year-old teacher in New York City, was charged with reckless endangerment and operating a drone in a New York City public park. Verley teaches at the Academy of Innovative Technology in Brooklyn.

(Image from file)

FMI: http://nyc.gov/nypd