Flying under the influence? After a small plane made an emergency landing in a warehouse parking lot, California deputies arrested the pilot on suspicion of being intoxicated.
The Piper Cherokee's left wing clipped a stop sign, but the single-engine plane remained upright after it landed in the empty lot late Monday, The Associated Press reported Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Alex Villanueva as saying.
As deputies talked to the pilot, they suspected he might be intoxicated and took him into custody, Villanueva said.
Darrell Roberts, the only person on board, could face a misdemeanor charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney.
Roberts, 58, got lost and was running out of fuel during a planned flight from Temecula, in Riverside County, to San Diego, about 60 miles south.
"He was headed in the wrong direction and somehow ended up here in LA County," said Villanueva.
The plane landed in Whittier, a Los Angeles suburb about 70 miles north of where it took off.
"A DUI involving an airplane, that doesn't happen very often," Villanueva said.
Roberts was held in lieu of $1,000 bail and ordered to appear in court July 5.
The 1973 Piper PA-28-140 is registered to a Darrell S. Roberts of Winchester, in Riverside County.
The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating, spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The plane sustained minor wing damage and remained in the parking lot on Tuesday. It was expected to be retrieved by a crew hired by an insurance company, Villanueva said.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.