The male resident, aged in his 20s, proudly showed officers the 50cm x 20cm drone which had four rotor blades.
It had hit trees and dropped into a garden in Pine Walk, Carshalton, at 10:35hrs on Monday, 1 September.
Police checked the drone's memory card and found it had taken off from the back garden of an address in Woodmansterne Road, Carshalton, just 26 minutes earlier at 10:09hrs.
Images from the drone, which also records sound, showed that it had been flying high over the area - producing high quality recordings of the top of houses, gardens and local roads.
One resident who was first on scene at the crash site was heard to comment to other people nearby: "I was in the back garden and saw it clip the top of the trees." Another resident was heard to say: "What a find!"
Police are trying to contact the owner to return the drone, which is being kept in the property store at Sutton Police station. It will be returned once proof of ownership has been established.
Det Sgt Ian Bailey, from Sutton CID, commented: "This is the first time I've dealt with something like this. It looks like it's someone's new toy and they have been taking it out on test flights. There are no offences connected with this incident and we are taking steps to return the device to its rightful owner."