Kentucky police charged a man on Sunday for shooting down a drone that was flying over his home.
William H. Meredith, 47, told police in Hillview, Kentucky that his children alerted him to a camera-mounted drone hovering around the neighborhood. Meredith says he got his shotgun and waited for the drone to fly over his property before shooting, according to WDRB Louisville.
“Within a minute or so, here it came,” Meredith told WDRB. “It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky.”
Police arrested and charged Meredith with two felonies, first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment. The owner reportedly told the police the drone was worth over $1800, and was being used to take pictures of a friend’s home.
FAA guidelines say drone pilots must receive permission from property owners pre-flight when flying over a residence — but a FAA spokesperson told local media that shooting at an unmanned aerial vehicle posed a bigger threat.
Meredith, however, said he had every right to take the law into his own hands. “Everyone I’ve spoken to, including police, have said they would have done the same thing,” he said.
House boats appear next to the shoreline of Bidwell Canyon on Lake Oroville in Northern California on November 25, 2014. Lake Oroville is California's second largest reservoir, and is currently 70% empty as a result of the state's severe drought.Tomas van Houtryve—VIICampers appear in an RV park in Fernley, Nevada on November 25, 2014. The nearby Amazon Fulfillment Center recruits people living out of RVs to work on the floor of their warehouse during peak holiday shipping season. Many of the campers are senior citizens whose homes or savings were wiped out by the 2008 economic crisis.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA parking lot for an Amazon fulfillment center appears in New Jersey on November 11, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterA residential apartment complex appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterVacation homes appear on the New Jersey Shore on November 11, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterAn empty drive-in movie theater appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterA farm house and field appear outside Trenton, New Jersey on November 11, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterCows gather for water and alfalfa distributed by a rancher in a drought-devastated pasture in Merced County, California on November 26, 2014. As with many areas of the Central Valley of California, these cows would not be able to survive without this kind of supplemental nutrition.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA run-down neighborhood appears in North Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014. In 2012, the FBI ranked Camden as having the most violent crime per capita of any American city with a population of over 50,000. The local police installed millions of dollars of surveillance equipment in residential neighborhoods, including cameras and microphones that detect the exact location of gunshots.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIHorse stalls appear near Fernley, Nevada on November 24, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA swamp appears near Brookfield, Connecticut on November 8, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterBeachfront vacation units appear on Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Nov. 7, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterThe USS New Jersey, a decommissioned battleship, appears on the Delaware river off Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA college campus appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterLacrosse players warm up before practice in Clark County, Nevada on January 20, 2014. The nearby Creech Air Force is the main command center for overseas drone strikes.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterWiggins Park Marina appears in Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII
