I would say it appears to be a voyeur of sorts. The neighbor’s daughter waved and they moved it. Thus, it looks like they were looking at her.
I do not like that the cops did not take the SIM card. I also think the drone should have been kept as evidence if they were going to file charges.
I would hope the homeowner is exonerated and their legal costs reimbursed by the trespasser.
Everyone is overlooking this paragraph in the article:
'They didn't take the SIM card out of it…but we've got…five houses here that everyone saw it – they saw what happened, including the neighbors that were sitting in their patio when he flew down low enough to see under the patio.
Just this afternoon, I was driving along a busy street right by the freeway and I saw a big white drone, like this one, hovering over a couple of businesses right next to the street and freeway.
Everyone defending the drone operator on this thread who got his drone shot down will say about the drone I saw today that the pilot wasn't doing anything illegal, but he was.
As I pointed out in earlier posts, flying for hobby or recreation is one thing. Flying for commercial purposes are strictly regulated.
Flying with a camera and transmitter on-board the model aircraft that transmits the video to a ground-based receiver that the operator uses fly the model is called 'first-person video' or FPV for short.
The FAA bans, outright FPV flight, for hobby or commercial model aircraft. The Academy of Model Aeronautics allows it, but the AMA 'rules' are only in place for the purposes of their insurance carrier and carry no legal weight that may be used in lieu of FAA FARs. Even when flown for hobby-related purposes, the drone operator must maintain a safe distance from people and houses.
For hobby-related flight, the pilot-in-command (PIC) of the drone does not need to be a certificated pilot. But, this does not relieve him of the responsibility to operate his model aircraft in a safe manner and flying over people and houses is not operating in a safe manner.
For commercial operations, the PIC needs to be a certificated pilot or needs a waiver issued by the FAA. The drone (UAV) also requires a certificate of airworthiness. (COA) At no time may the drone operator fly outside the visual line of sight (VLOS) and may not operate closer than 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless:
A) There are sufficient barriers to protect the persons, vessels, vehicles and structures and if for whatever reason the UAV comes within 500 feet, the PIC is to cease all operations to ensure the safety of all non-participants.
B) The owner/controller of any vessels, vehicles or structures has granted permission for operating closer to those objects and the PIC has made a safety assessment of the risk of operating closer to those objects and determined that it does not present an undue hazard.
For full details of what is required of commercial UAV operators, here's a link to a letter from the FAA granting permission to Drone Fleet & Aerospace Management, Inc. (See: Exemption No. 11253, Regulatory Docket No. FAA−2014−0817)