Drone owner files federal lawsuit after neighbor downs aircraft with a shotgun (KY)

The Washington Times ^ | January 6, 2016 | Andrew Blake

[jazusamo]

A Kentucky man who had his $1,500 hobbyist drone shot out of the sky last year by an agitated neighbor has filed a federal lawsuit in hope of having the courts define the rights of aircraft operators versus property owners with respect to unmanned aerial vehicles.

Attorneys for the drone owner, David Boggs, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and damages in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on Monday, nearly six months after the man’s camera-equipped, remote-controlled aircraft was brought down by a shotgun-wielding neighbor, William Merideth.

Police initially cited Mr. Merideth with charges of criminal mischief and wanton endangerment for admittedly firing three blasts from his shotgun after he spotted the drone above his property last July, but Bullitt County Judge Rebecca Ward later dismissed those charges after concluding there had been an invasion of privacy and that Mr. Merideth was in the right.

Mr. Merideth, who has since dubbed himself the “drone slayer” and has marketed T-shirts with that slogan, claimed the drone had been hovering no more than 10 feet above his home when he grabbed for his gun and shot thrice, causing the aircraft to come crashing down.

[jazusamo]

Here’s a link to a site I use to change smart quotes to straight quotes, it’s simple to use and works great.

http://dan.hersam.com/tools/smart-quotes.html

[jazusamo]

BTW

I forgot to use it when posting this thread but fortunately there were only a couple of dings in the excerpt. :)

[HandyDandy]

Or a hammer as in "The Roadrunner" cartoons.

Apologies in advance, but, don't you mean "anvil"?

[Crusher138]

Didn’t mean to be a jerk, but they are REALLY beginning to bug me - to the point that I am visiting other conservative sites more...

Ya’ need to do something, Jim...

[roadcat]

Apologies in advance, but, don't you mean "anvil"?

I thought it through, and the logistics of carrying an anvil from a drone are extremely difficult. So I said hammer, much easier to choose an appropriate weight and hang via the handle. Dropping an anvil from a cliff is easy. Carrying one aloft is hard.