The following story was shared by a neighbor of mine. I have 95% confidence that something like this happened. I have 90% confidence that the major details are mostly correct.
Picture in your head four guys sitting in a backyard, drinking beers and watching a fire. It is about an hour before sunset on a Friday or Saturday evening.
The four buddies all work in concrete/masonry/paving or a related profession.
One of the men points to the east and asks "What the hell is that doing?"
The men's heads swivel. There is a medium-sized drone "eyeballing" the host's children's play structure. The structure is on stilts and has a castle-like enclosure on top. The drone is flitting from side-to-side and the camera is looking through the windows.
The drone departs.
The men, angry, follow in two vehicles.
The drone flies east and is apparently following the road to navigate.
The drone flies for approximately a half-mile and then lands in front of a garage.
The men pull into the drive.
A man comes out of the house.
The owner of the drone brandishes a firearm before the men say a word.
The man tells the four amigos to leave his property...and he discharges his firearm to demonstrate that he is serious.
Presumed pedophile is now in the hands of the justice system and facing charges of "Brandishing". Four witnesses vs. one accused.
Some of the backstory on the flier of the drone is that he had "involvement" with the justice system as a youth but that involvement is fire-walled off from his current, adult history.
My guess is that the peeping-Tom will be back in the community because the soft-hearted prosecutor will not want to send a (circumstantial evidence) pedophile to prison because it will not go well for him. Furthermore, by their own admission, the four men had enjoyed an adult-beverage or two before the encounter, a fact that will undoubtedly be brought up repeatedly by the drone-owner's defense.
The owner of the drone would be well advised to find another place to live.
The take-away is that reusable drones must fly home to be recharged. That is a finger pointing back at the operator.
Bonus video
A homesteader who uses a drone to check his fences and investigate when his driveway alarm chimes. You have to be a bit patient with this video. I port you into it when he starts talking about the security cameras...then he talks about his food dehydrator for a bit. Then at the 5:08 mark he starts talking about his drone.
He has programs that follow his fences. He has a program that runs up his driveway. He has a program that swings wide of his driveway and checks the road in front of his property. He has programs that checks his animals out in the pasture (agitated animals can be a clue).
This is one of those situations where something used poorly, maybe irresponsibly, led to unnecessary confrontation.
ReplyDeleteThere is no justification for getting that close to some else's property, and it almost certainly violated FAA rules that require it to stay in sight of the operator.
Jonathan
More info needed, were there children playing in the play structure?
ReplyDeleteIf yes, after arrest for brandishing, based on the testimony a search warrant for recording of children should have been applied for, it could have then covered all electronic recording devices.
That one wasn't asked for seems odd.
If I remember correctly most concrete job sites involve backhoe, skidsteers and a lot of dirt.
And if he disappears, you'll need to look at those sites where those guys work... :-)
ReplyDelete