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Drone Checks Out Teenage Daughter, KY Dad Drops It With Shotgun

carbinemike

carbinemike

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I think I'd do the same thing if it were my family.

Where should we draw the line between the advancement of technology and the protection of personal privacy? For one Kentucky man, his property line is where he gets to make the call, and he made that point of view perfectly clear when he pointed his shotgun at a drone hovering in his backyard and pulled the trigger.
"It was just right there. It was hovering. I would never have shot it if it was flying," William Merideth said in an interview with Ars Technica. "When he came down with a video camera right over my back deck, that's not going to work."
Merideth claims that the drone was first spotted hovering over his neighbor's house—a claim his neighbor confirms—and he had no intentions of taking any actions against it until it entered onto his own property. Merideth's 16-year-old daughter was laying out by their pool at the time, and when the drone pilot decided to stop his vehicle and get an electronic eyeful, he decided enough was enough.
The homeowner fetched his shotgun and pumped three helpings of birdshot into the $1,800 drone, taking it out of the air in short order. Shortly thereafter, the drone pilot and three of his friends arrived at Merideth's property.
"If you cross that sidewalk onto my property, there's going to be another shooting," Merideth says he told the men.
The police eventually arrived and Merideth was charged with first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree wanton endangerment, both related to his discharge of the firearm. The 47-year-old Merideth is confident that the charges will be reduced or thrown out entirely once his trial date arrives.
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Drone? What drone?
 
I think some new laws are just around the corner for all these drones. Seems as though you ought to be able to do something about a drone that invades your property and privacy like that...legally. If it were a human being, with a video camera in his hand, he wouldn't have been allowed to do that. Of course, they would probably arrest you for filling his a** with birdshot, too. Take care. Tom Worthington
 
I'm still waiting for the Amazon distribution facility down the way from me to start drone deliveries. The JM Pro needs a workout...
 
Fair Game if it's in my airspace longer than it takes to transverse the property...and...they won't see me when I shoot it either.
 
Where did the dead drone land? If I shot a drone out of the sky, that sucker would be getting field-dressed directly! :D I would not be turning it over to the previous owner...it's MINE now! ;)
 
Chances are that "toy" had GPS and a good camera...and the drone fool and his friends had the location and the shooter's mug before it went black.

It landed in his back yard...after multiple flyovers of his property...and after taking pics of his 16 year old daughter by the pool.

If the drone owner had done the same to me and mine...he would be eating through a straw.

...and when I got out of prison...I'd look him up again.
 
I would've shot it down too... What are we supposed to do put a BIG sign on the lawn, pointing towards the sky, with foot tall letters reading- PRIVATE PROPERTY, DRONES WILL BE SHOT DOWN ! ?
 
dieselmudder said:
No, actually small letters, that way once they're close enough to read it, they're within range
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Yes, THIS^^^^^ :)

I have a rental with a fenced back yard and when not rented, I have a warning sign I put in the back windows something to the effect of: "WARNING!!! If you can read this, you are trespassing! Potentially lethal action may be taken against you SO LEAVE NOW!"
 
Drone Checks Out Teenage Daughter, KY Dad Drops It With Shotgun

I think the thread title says it all.
 
Unfortunately, per current US codes state that we don't have any rights to the airspace over our properties so technically the drone operators were not "trespassing". That is not to say that it can't be changed, though. A reasonable person, upon seeing a drone hovering over their backyard, would think they are being targeted and being trespassed upon. It is definitely an invasion of privacy. I don't have the option of shooting one down so there needs to be other options. Like RF jammers to scramble the signals. But it will also block cell phone, wifi, etc in the immediate area. But they also are illegal. WTF?

Don't forget, even though the drone has an onboard camera and you "capture" it, the operators may be recording it in the ground and have evidence of whoever took it down. Wear a Nixon mask...
 
The prosecuting attorney should at least bring up the remote control copter owner up on charges of their own.

If the daughter was being peeped on, in the very least infliction of emotional distress, public nuisance, invasion of privacy if you can see inside the home, etc.

Personally, I think if the copter owner was a minor, his parents could be sued for vicarious liability as well.

I'm sure this isn't going to be the end of this story, but I think we all know what the copter owners intentions were by looking through the windows.

If not for a peep show, then perhaps scoping out the residence for future burglary so they'd know the layout, etc.

There is no other logical explanation that it was for anything other than nefarious reasons.
 
Drone Wars...get above them and drop a net. Small bomblets? Air-to-air cannon?

 
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