Kentucky Man Arrested for Shooting Drone Over His Backyard [POLL]
William Merideth did what any parent would do when a drone flew into his backyard and hovered over his sunbathing daughters-- he shot it down!
William Merideth is like many Dads we all know. Mess with our family and you may not like the outcome. This is exactly what happened in Bullitt County, Kentucky when he saw a drone hovering over his back deck above his sunbathing daughters.
Merideth had been outside earlier when a neighbor mentioned it and asked if he was going to do something about it and he said not unless it comes over his property. The neighbor also has a 16-year-old daughter who was sunbathing by their pool.
Shortly after, the drone did, in fact, come over his property, hovered over his deck, which was when he brought out a shotgun and fired three rounds into the drone. It was just a few minutes later when a car pulled up to his house and four men got out and weren't very happy. Merideth, who was holding a 40mm Glock, told them to not come any closer or there would be another shooting.
Police arrived, took him into custody on charges of criminal mischief and wanton endangerment and he now faces a September court date but is confident the charges will be reduced, if not dropped entirely.
According to the FAA, a person can't shoot down a drone,
An unarmed 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 - FAA
But the FAA also states that you can't fly a drone over buildings, or people.
Honestly, I would have done the same thing if a drone was flying over my daughter while she was sunbathing. I may have even shot it down if she wasn't because this is a blatant invasion of privacy and this was not the first time a drone had flown/hovered over his property.
The issue, though, may come down to if video was actually recorded and how to go about getting it before it's too late. Merideth said the drone was given back to the owner and the SIM card was left in it.