Los Angeles man arrested for flying drone over, taking photos of Vandenberg Space Force Base

A Brentwood man has been arrested on suspicion of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base and taking photos, according to the United States Department of Justice. 

Yinpiao Zhou, 39, has been charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace, the DOJ's release said. 

He was arrested at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday as he was getting ready to board a flight to China. He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday. 

An affidavit filed on Dec. 8 says that on Nov. 30, the base's drone detection systems were alerted to a drone flying over the base. 

"The drone systems detected that the drone flew for nearly one hour, traveled to an altitude of almost one mile above ground leve, and originated from Ocean Park," the release said. 

Personnel spoke with Zhou on that day, who was accompanied by another person. They found that he had concealed the aircraft in his jacket at that time. 

After obtaining a federal search warrant, agents searched Zhou's drone and found several photographs of the space force base taken via the drone. 

"A search of Zhou's cellphone showed Zhou conducted a Google search approximately one month earlier for the phrase 'Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules' and messaged with another person about hacking his drone to allow it to fly higher than it could otherwise," the release stated. 

Zhou is reportedly a Chinese citizen who is a lawful United States resident, prosecutors said. He most recently returned to the U.S. from China in February 2024. They also state that the person who was with Zhou at Ocean Park arrived from China on November 26. 

If convicted, Zhou faces a maximum sentence of four years in federal prison. 

The FBI is assisting with the investigation.