US Open terror scare as Daniel Verley 'flies and crashes drone into stadium'

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Brooklyn teacher Daniel Verley, 26, charged with reckless endangerment
Flavia Pennetta was playing Louis Armstrong Stadium when drone landed
The Italian tennis player said she thought the drone was a bomb
No one was injured after the drone crashed into a row of empty seats
NYPD officers arrested Verley early Friday and he also faces a charge of operating a drone in a New York public park outside a prescribed area

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline and Associated Press Reporter

Published: 04:53 EST, 4 September 2015 | Updated: 11:45 EST, 4 September 2015

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A teacher has been arrested after the drone he was allegedly flying crashed into a stand during the middle of a match at the US Open tennis tournament on Thursday night.

The small black drone hit an empty section of seats in the Louis Armstrong Stadium before breaking into pieces, leading one of the players to fear the 10,000-seat stadium was under attack and that the device was a bomb.

The NYPD confirmed that Daniel Verley, 26, was arrested early Friday and is facing charges of reckless endangerment and operating a drone in a New York public park outside a prescribed area.

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Four police officers stand over the small plastic drone after it crashed into the stand during the US Open

The black device flew diagonally through the arena during the next-to-last game of a second-round match that 26th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy won 6-1, 6-4 over Monica Niculescu of Romania

Arrested: Brooklyn teacher Daniel Verley, 26, was taken into custody early Friday and is facing charges of reckless endangerment and operating a done in a New York public park outside a prescribed area

The small drone, pictured, dropped into the Louis Armstrong stadium at around 8.30pm on Thursday

The drone broke into pieces upon landing in some empty seats, and the match was only briefly interrupted between points while police and fire department personnel went to look at it

The NYPD has launched a full investigation into the incident during the match between Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu

Flavia Pennetta from Italy beat Monica Niculescu from Romania despite the strange interruption.

The drone flew into the Louis Armstrong stadium during the closing stages of the game at 8.30pm local time which Pennetta won 6-1, 6-4.

Speaking after her victory, Pennetta said she thought it might have been a bomb.

'A little bit scary, I have to say,' Pennetta said.

'With everything going on in the world ... I thought, OK, it's over. That's how things happen.'

'The chair umpire just wanted to wait for an OK from the police to be able to continue, even if, truthfully, I don't think even they knew what it was.

'All of these (security measures), and then it comes in from above,' Pennetta said.

'If there had been spectators, it would have hit them and done a lot of damage.'

Flavia Pennetta from Italy, who won yesterday's delayed game said the incident was 'a little bit scary'

Game, set: Flavia Pennetta (left), of Italy, reacts during her second round match against Monica Niculescu (right), of Romania, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York

She said her coach and physical therapist were sitting in the opposite end of the stadium from where the drone crashed and they told her later they were afraid, too.

US Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier confirmed that no one was injured during the incident.

Pennetta and Niculescu originally were scheduled to play on much smaller Court 17, but their match was moved because four earlier matches in Armstrong wrapped up early.