Treyarch Co-Founder Pleads Guilty To Crashing Drone Into Firefighting Plane

A co-founder of the Call of Duty studio Treyarch recently pleaded guilty to striking a firefighting plane with a drone during the recent LA fires. Under the plea deal, Peter T. Akemann will avoid the potential penalty of a year in prison and will instead perform 150 hours of community service, particularly in the area of Southern California's wildfire relief efforts. The deal also includes a $65,000 fine, the cost of repairing the firefighting plane in question.

According to the plea agreement, Akemann flew a drone over the area of the Palisades Fire while a "Super Scooper" water-dumping plane was conducting operations in the area. His drone struck the plane's wing, causing enough damage that it had to be grounded for a period of time.

US attorney Joseph McNally, one of the prosecutors on the case, released a statement noting that "flying drones during times of emergency poses an extreme threat to personnel trying to help people and compromises the overall ability of police and fire to conduct operations." He reiterated that those who do fly drones in those conditions will be arrested and prosecuted just like Akemann.

Akemann's camp released a statement stating that the co-founder is "deeply sorry" and "accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgment." After co-founding Treyarch, Akemann parted way with the company more than 20 years ago. The Verge reports that he recently departed his role as the president of Skydance Interactive and that his social media accounts have been scrubbed, including X and LinkedIn.

Several major video game publishers have marshaled resources to help fight the LA fires, including Riot Games, which implemented in-game fundraisers in League of Legends and Valorant. Sony also donated $5 million to Los Angeles fire relief efforts.