Enjoy.
Posted on 07/29/2015 7:19:24 AM PDT by Rodamala
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Hillview man has been arrested after he shot down a drone flying over his property -- but he's not making any apologies for it.
It happened Sunday night at a home on Earlywood Way, just south of the intersection between Smith Lane and Mud Lane in Bullitt County, according to an arrest report.
Hillview Police say they were called to the home of 47-year-old William H. Merideth after someone complained about a firearm.
When they arrived, police say Merideth told them he had shot down a drone that was flying over his house. The drone was hit in mid-air and crashed in a field near Merideth's home.
Police say the owner of the drone claimed he was flying it to get pictures of a friend's house -- and that the cost of the drone was over $1,800.
Merideth was arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment. He was booked into the Bullitt County Detention Center, and released on Monday.
WDRB News spoke with Merideth Tuesday afternoon, and he gave his side of the story.
"Sunday afternoon, the kids – my girls – were out on the back deck, and the neighbors were out in their yard," Merideth said. "And they come in and said, 'Dad, there’s a drone out here, flying over everybody’s yard.'"
Merideth's neighbors saw it too.
"It was just hovering above our house and it stayed for a few moments and then she finally waved and it took off," said neighbor Kim VanMeter.
VanMeter has a 16-year-old daughter who lays out at their pool. She says a drone hovering with a camera is creepy and weird.
"I just think you should have privacy in your own backyard," she said.
Merideth agrees and said he had to go see for himself.
“Well, I came out and it was down by the neighbor’s house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they’ve got under their back yard," Merideth said. "I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property.’"
That moment soon arrived, he said.
"Within a minute or so, here it came," he said. "It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky."
"I didn't shoot across the road, I didn't shoot across my neighbor's fences, I shot directly into the air," he added.
It wasn't long before the drone's owners appeared.
"Four guys came over to confront me about it, and I happened to be armed, so that changed their minds," Merideth said.
"They asked me, 'Are you the S-O-B that shot my drone?' and I said, 'Yes I am,'" he said. "I had my 40mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, 'If you cross my sidewalk, there's gonna be another shooting.'"
A short time later, Merideth said the police arrived.
"There were some words exchanged there about my weapon, and I was open carry – it was completely legal," he said. "Long story short, after that, they took me to jail for wanton endangerment first degree and criminal mischief...because I fired the shotgun into the air."
Merideth said he was disappointed with the police response.
"They didn’t confiscate the drone. They gave the drone back to the individuals," he said. "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."
Hillview Police detective Charles McWhirter of says you can't fire your gun in the city.
"Well, we do have a city ordinance against discharging firearms in the city, but the officer made an arrest for a Kentucky Revised Statute violation," he said.
According to the Academy of Model Aeronautics safety code, unmanned aircraft like drones may not be flown in a careless or reckless manner and has to be launched at least 100 feet downwind of spectators.
The FAA says drones cannot fly over buildings -- and that shooting them poses a significant safety hazard.
"An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air," said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
Merideth said he's offering no apologies for what he did.
"He didn’t just fly over," he said. "If he had been moving and just kept moving, that would have been one thing -- but when he come directly over our heads, and just hovered there, I felt like I had the right."
"You know, when you’re in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy," he said. "We don't know if he was looking at the girls. We don’t know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing."
For now, Merideth says he's planning on pursuing legal action against the owners of the drone.
"We’re not going to let it go," he said. "I believe there are rules that need to be put into place and the situation needs to be addressed because everyone I’ve spoke to, including police, have said they would have done the same thing."
"Because our rights are being trampled daily," he said. "Not on a local level only - but on a state and federal level. We need to have some laws in place to handle these kind of things."
Enjoy.
Like they say in the Air Defense Artillery, If it flies it dies.
Reason No. 1 of a 1000 to live in the country. Ask the squirrels visiting my Pear Trees daily.
I live in rural central KY. I vowed to be far from any city limits. This is just one of MANY advantages to it. And I can hunt without a license on my property (because it’s over 10 acres).
When you live in city limits, you really do give up a lot of your “self defense” rights. Cities are a form of a “collective”.
You’ll notice the guy who lived out in the sticks that was reported here a week or so ago didn’t go to jail for shooting down a drone. There is a reason. ;-)
I just love that response. Reading this, the excuse of "friend's home" just doesn't jive with what is described as a progressive inspection (some at low level) of multiple homes. There are some parts of the description of events that read like peeping tom.
If you own a drone and think you can just fly over someone's personal property to do whatever, then you should also be responsible for the risk involved you'll lose your expensive toy.
Shoulda used a paint ball gun, good training to become Anne Oakley.
At some points, the drone was only 10 feet off the ground. Could’ve caught it with a pool skimmer.
Jury nullification.
“Four guys came over to confront me about it, and I happened to be armed, so that changed their minds,” Merideth said.
Right or wrong, I hope Merideth has a 5 figure bank account to fund his legal expenses. Between his defense attorney and civil suit attorney, he's going to be shelling out tens of thousands.
I wonder if one could adapt the magnetron from a microwave oven into a drone zapper?
The "criminal mischief" charge is debatable as the drone was destroyed which may be illegal. The "wanton endangerment" is actually wanton over-charging on the prosecutor's part. Since the drone landed in a field this is obviously a semi-rural area, the guy hit his target, and birdshot fired in the air isn't going to hurt anyone or anything on the ground. On top of that the police gave they voyeurs their drone back. Glad to see the police and DA giving everyone more reasons to hate them.
I have quizzed land surveyors about this. There is a minimum altitude (FAA rule) that planes and helicopters can fly over your property. Anything less than that could be considered trespassing. I don’t remember the altitude, but its certainly higher than shotgun range.
This guy is going to get in trouble because of the discharge of a firearm in the city limits...but its not ‘ok’ to hover around over other people’s property. Especially as drones get bigger and have more powerful blades - if they fall or fly at you, it could actually be dangerous.
When you are outside, the right to privacy gets very hazy. Are you going to stand in your yard and say “No one can look at me”? The question is whether they were stalking.
‘it was down by the neighbor’s house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they’ve got under their back yard’
I sure hope the owners of the drone are charged with SOMETHING. They are nothing but creepy voyeurs.
I’m very sympathetic to the man but let’s just say someone shoots a drone out of the sky and it crashes and damages someone’s roof - who’s responsible, the gunman or the drone owner? Let’s say it crashes and kills a neighbor’s dog who didn’t see it coming - who’s responsible, the gunman or the drone owner? Let’s say it knocks a satellite dish off somebody’s roof - who pays to fix it? Etc.
Does the drone owner have an unlimited right to air space over people’s homes without their permission and without consequence? Does the homeowner have an unlimited right to self-defense of any perceived intruders in the air space above his head? I don’t think we want to grant either one but I lean more towards the man with the house because, after all, he can’t move the house and he has put in place all reasonable means of privacy to his property. The drone owner should be limited to public right of ways and properties where he has permission to fly over.
10 feet off the ground and apparently viewing under a canopy (IIRC from the article)? You don’t call that invasion of privacy?
how about paintballs?
frozen paintballs?
how about drone shooting immunity?
Amazon wants a 400 foot “drone corridor” to fly through people’s homes’ airspace. Will amazon be paying for this?
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