Police Helicopter Borrowed For Football Stunt

California authorities are looking into how a police helicopter was used without proper authorisation for a stunt at a high school football game.

Top officials at the Department of Justice did not know the helicopter - usually flown for drug busts - was being borrowed by one of its agents to hover over the Oak Ridge High School game, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported.

The incident was captured on video and uploaded to YouTube.

It shows a DOJ agent dropping a football from the helicopter to his son, a player, on the field.

A search of the video-sharing site shows helicopter ball-drops are relatively common occurrences at football games.

The cost to taxpayers for use of the chopper was between \$900 and \$1,300 (£573 and £827) for the stunt, not including the cost of hiring the pilot to fly the aircraft.

Larry Wallace, director of law enforcement for the DOJ, said he will now personally approve any authorised use of the helicopter.