KY: Hillview man arrested for shooting down drone; cites right to privacy

[4play]

"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,"

"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."

Two felonies?

508.060 Wanton endangerment in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of wanton endangerment in the first degree when, under
circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he
wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious
physical injury to another person.
(2) Wanton endangerment in the first degree is a Class D felony.

512.020 Criminal mischief in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal mischief in the first degree when, having no right to
do so or any reasonable ground to believe that he has such right, he intentionally or
wantonly defaces, destroys or damages any property causing pecuniary loss of
$1,000 or more.
(2) Criminal mischief in the first degree is a Class D felony

 

[lee1000]

What is the effective range of rock salt? I'm not a shotgun guy, I really don't know.

 

[Brad A]

The controller has to be fairly close, correct? I'm guessing. If so follow it and find out who is peeping. Or call the police? I wouldn't think twice to bring it down if my kids were swimming and it was watching.

 

[rlongnt]

If a drone flies over my house, I shoot it down. And I keep it.

Me too and I live out of the city limits so it will be legal like and all LOL

 

[Wheel Gun]

May be time for the rest of us to buy some killer drones. If laws are found that prohibit us from shooting them down over our property, let's fight fire with fire. Shotgun not needed. Just deploy your anti-drone drone to render the buzzing interloper unflyable--with extreme prejudice.

 

[cmhbob]

The pilot claims that telemetry shows his drone was at about 270 feet when it was shot.

Is that a reasonable range for birdshot? I'm not a shotgunner.

 

[4play]

The pilot claims that telemetry shows his drone was at about 270 feet when it was shot.

Is that a reasonable range for birdshot? I'm not a shotgunner.

I would think bird shot would stretch that far at least to disable a drone, most are pretty fragile, even striking a flimsy tree limb usually breaks a rotor blade. It was interesting to read the drone was found crashed in a field nearby the property where the shooter lived, I wonder how far away from his property. I would also think if you disabled a drone with birdshot it would fall pretty much straight down, maybe a slight spiral. The story seems a little skeptical to me but not enough details.

 

[donner]

I would think bird shot would stretch that far at least to disable a drone, most are pretty fragile, even striking a flimsy tree limb usually breaks a rotor blade. It was interesting to read the drone was found crashed in a field nearby the property where the shooter lived, I wonder how far away from his property. I would also think if you disabled a drone with birdshot it would fall pretty much straight down, maybe a slight spiral. The story seems a little skeptical to me but not enough details.

i keep wondering how people are going to feel when the idiot neighbor sends a bunch of birdshot and a disabled drone through their window.

How it'd fall would likely depend on the style drone, where it's hit (say clipping two of four rotors on a quadcopter), how badly it's damaged, etc. Either way, it can potentially be a relatively heavy object falling from a pretty good height over a populated area.

Privacy issues aside (which i'm still not convinced is a strong legal position given that your expectation of privacy from above is less protected), shooting down a drone could open you up to a lot of liability.

 

[Raoul Duke]

If I were on the jury, I would not convict this man on any of the charges brought against him.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/23929-jury-nullification-why-every-american-needs-to-learn-this-taboo-verdict

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

May be time for the rest of us to buy some killer drones. If laws are found that prohibit us from shooting them down over our property, let's fight fire with fire. Shotgun not needed. Just deploy your anti-drone drone to render the buzzing interloper unflyable--with extreme prejudice.

I like this remedy. I believe it to be appropriate. Even the cheapest drone would be able to take down a high dollar unit.

Woody