Posted on 08/01/2015 7:57:03 AM PDT by ealgeone
A father shot was arrested after shooting down an $1,800 drone that was hovering over his sunbathing daughter.
William H. Merideth, 47, from Kentucky was charged with first degree criminal mischief and first-degree wanton endangerment.
The owner of the drone claims he was only trying to take pictures of a friend's house, when Merideth shot at the device, sending it crashing into a field near his yard last weekend.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
What the father needed was a tractor beam (a la Star Wars) to pull that sucker down. Then he could have checked out the pics. This is a tough one.
IMHO... ask for a jury trial. Put me on it... and he walks.
My house and my airspace at least to 500 ft
“sending it crashing into a field near his yard last weekend”
Perhaps, but he shot it over his yard according to his comments. IMO, he walks if put to a trial.
If the drone flew as low as claimed....the anti-aircraft artillery comes out.
I think what got him in trouble was threatening to pull his pistol on the guys who were coming to get the drone. Too bad he didn't pull out the SIM card so it could be examined.
The evidence is on that card.
He did the right thing. A drone in the hands of an a$$hole is dangerous.
Someone needs to invent a shotgun shell net that can trap a drone and bring it down intact.
Cops should have at least taken the card out of the camera. Sounds like the peeping toms have friends at the police station or in city government.
I guess because he was shooting upward into the air and bringing down something that could have hit someone? I would looked around to find the operator and shot him!
This could and should become a litmus test court case about drone operations.
Who is aggrieved if a drone is taking pix/video above or near one’s backyard and it gets shot down?
Is a back yard considered with the same level of privacy as the inside of one’s residence?
Can someone stand on your yard and photograph/videograph what they see inside the home windows?
Can they stand on the sidewalk and do the same?
Drone use is going to open up a whole new line of laws and lawsuits.
==
A similar story this morning was of a drone flying within 100 feet of a passenger airplane.
I applaud the father but think that a .410 would have been much more appropriate. Falling pellets are not dangerous to life and limb.
I’m with the father in this one two.....just because some folks can buy these things does not give them permission to by flying into people’s yards or peering into windows....
Agree.
Pervs now are operating drones.
'They didn't confiscate the drone. They gave the drone back to the individuals,' he said
So they broke the chain of control for the evidence. How's that going to work out at trial,if there is one?
My dad shot all four tires off the brand new truck of one of his tenants. The man would not remove a junked vehicle from the property. Even though dad represented himself in court (which performance could barely keep the judge from laughing out loud), it cost him a bit, but the satisfaction of doing it put a smile on his face whenever the subject came up. He’s gone for many years but it puts a smile on my face too.
Me too. Fricking nerd pervert Peeping Toms.
LOL! Your dad sounds like he was a hoot!
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