Drone Shooting Arrest - Walmart Involved

Think shootin' down a pesky drone is okay? This looks like it takes place in Florida, Lake County.

Well, not so much once the patrol officer shows up followed by the detective and even more officers and out come the Miranda rights.
This drone was hovering over this guy's driveway "lowering down a rope" for several minutes. He motioned to the operator to move along which, of course, didn't happen, so he grabs his gat and fires off a round. And that's when the cops showed up to charge him with a federal crime.

Right on cue, the monster thunderstorm shows up. Now comes the interesting part. This was a Walmart delivery drone droppin' off "mock" packages to homes (believe it or not) with the operator two streets away which I would surmise took them out of LOS (line of sight) with the drone which is illegal, but Walmart DOES have a waiver from the FAA to fly over people. He caused, according to Walmart, $10,000 damage to the drone.

So the bad boys song starts playing and off the homeowner goes to jail.

Now, my understanding of the part 107 regulations doesn't have a carve out for operating out of LOS. If the second person with the pilot was using binoculars, I believe that is illegal because I don't think there's any waivers for vision aids or operating farther than 1500 feet away. Which as far as I'm concerned make delivery drones a pretty stupid idea because drone flies out, delivers package, flies back, gets another package, rinse and repeat. Which makes me ask what the hell is the point of using a drone in the first place?

Ok, so it is illegal to shoot a drone over your property.

(guess what I will go to jail for the first time for?)

Is it illegal to net it?
Then stomp on it?

Just need one of those T-shirt guns.....

Apparently it IS illegal to net it as well.
*(&^ That!

a reply to: billxam1

It depends on how far from the center of the road it was practicing at. Could be a trespassing lawsuit for Walmart.

The easement is considered public the land but not the whole driveway.

a reply to: chiefsmom

A paint ball gun should be effective without shooting it with a real gun.

I keep one by the front door for stray dogs wondering through the neighborhood. Walmart only had pink balls at the time so there were pink spotted dogs for a while. In other yards, they don't usually come into my yard anymore.

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

Walmart, according to the document shown in the video has a FAA waiver for flying over residences and people.

Additionally, a road normally isn't 1,500 feet wide. The pilot was located in a van several streets away, again according the document.

a reply to: billxam1

Flying over and landing a cord are too entirely different things. One is legal, one can be trespassing.

You don't understand the road measurement. It is usually 25 feet from the middle of the road the driveway is attached to. The distance to the controls is irrelevant to trasspassing.

originally posted by: BeyondKnowledge3
a reply to: chiefsmom

A paint ball gun should be effective without shooting it with a real gun.

I keep one by the front door for stray dogs wondering through the neighborhood. Walmart only had pink balls at the time so there were pink spotted dogs for a while. In other yards, they don't usually come into my yard anymore.

You shoot at stray dogs with a paintgun? They are living creatures who have no humans. Some may even be really good doggos. Sorry, it's an asshole move.

Sending drones to a random house without invitation or prior notice should qualify as trespassing or at least harassment. Maybe next time use a power washer instead of a gun.

originally posted by: Hecate666

originally posted by: BeyondKnowledge3
a reply to: chiefsmom

A paint ball gun should be effective without shooting it with a real gun.

I keep one by the front door for stray dogs wondering through the neighborhood. Walmart only had pink balls at the time so there were pink spotted dogs for a while. In other yards, they don't usually come into my yard anymore.

You shoot at stray dogs with a paintgun? They are living creatures who have no humans. Some may even be really good doggos. Sorry, it's an asshole move.

I knew a guy that hated cats and used his paintball gun on them all the time....until he was reported and received a hefty fine since it's illegal to do.

He replaced his PB gun with a dog and trained it to hate cats.

a reply to: Hecate666

You had rather I use a 12ga?

No harm to the dog from a paint ball other than a slight bruise. They are a nucense as they poop in my yard and one even got a new glove from my tool box when I was working on my car. The gun is one of the weaker Walmart models so less bruising.

More humane than the dog catcher.

Most of the time, my attack cat takes care of the dogs. They don't like claws to the nose. It is just the really big ones that I have to help him with.

a reply to: billxam1

i get from this is that drones are very fragile, just like all electronic stuff these days, you cant amour up a drone much before it becomes unairworthy. The economics of the new world have electronics and chip tech at their heart. Which seem to have this flaw which according to murphy's law "What can go wrong will" Total reliance on electronics and chip tech is a major flaw. I am not saying that they haven't got there place but without back up from the reliable systems it is a disaster waiting in the wings, and will as usual bite at the worst possible time.

Get an anti drone gun, the one LE uses, no projectile, no evidence, just aim out your window. Don’t let these corporations get their way,they will change general aviation, and nobody will be able to freely fly. Corporations will own the sky.

Having watched the video for a second time, the guy that made that video is an idiot.

There was no danger to any nearby children from the gunfire. There is danger to someone far away in the wrong spot. He also implies that using the proper weapon, 12ga bird shot, would be acceptable. This is because the shot is harmless when it lands having lost its energy.

While there are many gun channels to learn from on YouTube, this ain't one of them.

originally posted by: billxam1
.... Which makes me ask what the hell is the point of using a drone in the first place?

So wealthy enough people can still stuff themselves silly and live in luxury without having to rub shoulders with the "nasties", perhaps the elite will be travelling safely in sky-taxis to their penthouse suites while others have nothing in an empty box on the ground.

Perhaps.

"Bladerunner" dystopia anyone?

a reply to: nerbot

Come on now... you guys lol.

There is a much simpler solution:
Drone signal jammers and UAV radio blockers

Also add a NO DRONE ZONE sign for the rooftop.

a reply to: Hecate666
We have every right to use non lethal deterrents on nuisance animals. I don't know what kind of temperament an anonymous stray animal has, or even a loose pet for that matter. You going to walk up to a random 95 pound rottweiler or other large breed trespassing on your property and just give it a hug?? You going to send your children to risk their pretty little faces getting mauled by a strange animal you know nothing about??? That is your call. I also will shoot a stray nuisance dog if it lingers in my yard and keeps on barking, and have done so myself.

I nearly shot dead a nuisance animal trespassing on property one night which had a history of biting children the week prior. It showed up within the fence of the property and began barking incessantly towards the occupied structure like at 2am. I put a .45 in the ground inches from his feet and he took off quietly. The only reason I did not send the wild abandoned creature down was pansy ass animal activists who do not live in a real world where animals are as dangerous as any man. And you do not even know them.

In the real world, nuisance animals must be taught to respect boundries or you may show up one day to a horribly mauled child, elder, or special needs friend or relative by an unrestrained animal.

If the oeprator of this professed "Walmart" drone was so close to the residence for package delivery, why couldn't he have just used his own vehicle or FedEx of UPS Ground Services instead of an annoying little device better suited for a park environment than home delivery?

The overall concept is just stupid imho. The future is stupid. I've seen it with my own eyes.

Granted he shoudl have shot the finger at the drone rather than discharged his firearm in a residential neighborhood, but...$10,000 damage vs Harassment?

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

By ordering something to be delivered, you are authorizing the delivery store to encroach on your property. This is not the case with this drone. It was a practice drone and the owner did not authorize it to be on his property. Yes, there are laws that state a Drone can fly above your house or property in rout to the address, but it should be over the heights of your upstairs windows unless it is over the right away of the municipalities easement. How does a person know if it is a delivery drone or the person who is steering it to it's destination is not a pervert?

Seems to me it is less efficient for a person to drive to the neighborhood and then load the drone for deliveries, it would take less time to just haul it there with the delivery vehicle. This is all getting stupid.

Was this new rule of law made so that the government or some agencies could go on people's property to do surveillance? Posing as a delivery drone, maybe that is why they arrested the guy and will let Walmart win the judgement for the price of the drone. I see nefarious possibilities with this new rule of law.

If a drone comes over my house and starts snooping around....I will probably get the shotgun out and shoot it if it has no reason for being over my property. A thief could be casing the property. If I heard it start on the neighbors property, it would be different, But I would contact the neighbor and warn them if I do not know who's drone it is I will shoot it down.

Maybe I will design a sonic cannot to aim at the drones so they just crash. A pulsating below the threshold of hearing weapon that pulses and will disrupt the signal and or operation. I probably have everything I need to make something like that. I have designed a gun for knocking snow off of trees, just never built or tested it yet....I would guess it would shake the drone up and it would crash. But the battery needed would be hard on my back and I am getting too old now to strap on a backpack with eighty pounds of weight. Just like a boombox shakes a car, this could cause vibration in a drone or shake the branches of a pine tree with lots of snow on it. A spinning led lasar panel would be needed to guide the pulsating low frequencies and absorb the sound pulsation in theory... feel free to test this theory of design, but be aware it can also hurt wildlife. All you would need is enough pulsation to screw up the balance by shaking it. I got the idea from how an old horn speaker from a football field vibrated a window when I set the frequency real low. So I figured I might be able to design something for shaking off snow from tree branches that were hanging low.

a reply to: billxam1
you know, I get the whole "muh rights" thing and all, and do not mind at all that he blasted this thing. But if there was a damn rope dangling down the thing, my first thought would be to just tie it to something and start laughing! Wait for the owner to show up. I don't think I would want to pull it down because it could just be ready to explode in my face. But tying it to something heavy sure would have been more entertaining.

Ok no, I know I shooting it would be more fun, but still tie it to something would have been funny too.

So, a couple points here (three actually)...

1. The debate over who 'owns' the sky above a piece of property is not a clear legal issue and has been debated for many years, long before drones. There are lot of varying laws depending on location, but as a general rule, a homeowner owns the sky up to 100 meters above the property in question. Even so, this still doesn't permit the use of lethal force for something like a drone trespassing into this space, much the same as it's not legal to use lethal force against a trespasser on the ground. However, self-defense issues, if proven, can trump this. Bottom line, it's not a straight forward legal issue.

2. We have a town not far from where we are which legalized 'drone hunting' with a license issued by the jurisdiction. It's the only town in the country with this law, and it's ruffled all kinds of feathers, and there's lawsuits sixteen ways from Sunday over it ever since. One resident actually shot down a drone with a shotgun, and he's still battling his way through State laws versus local ordinances. It will likely go to the State Supreme Court before it's over. (On a funny side note, I've often thought about going and getting one of these licenses just for sh!ts and giggles).

3. The problem with taking out a drone is most modern drones have GPS, so they know exactly where they are at all times. Most commercial drones report their locations in real-time back to their operator, so if the drone suddenly goes down it's pretty easy to narrow down the list of people who might be responsible.

Okay, I lied...there's actually (4) points here

4. The best drone defense is electronic countermeasures. There are some pretty advanced anti-drone technologies out there presently. (We've even installed some recently). There are also physical countermeasures with things like nets and other disabling devices. The problem with any of these technologies is the user has to be willing to take responsibility for the area below the drone (i.e. where it falls). Some anti-drone technologies won't affect the drone itself, but will target and geo-locate where the drone is being controlled from (and some do both). This way, authorities can be dispatched to the control location before the pilot knows someone is onto them (these are pretty effective BTW). Other devices can jam drone control signals and bring the drone down. Most of these crash the drone (unless they have the control protocol for the drone...which isn't far off with the new regulations on drone ID's (which will include make, model and protocol data).

Interestingly, GPS guidance systems were a paradigm shift in radio controlled flight. Drones practically exterminated the RC airplane and helicopter hobby almost overnight. I know some guys big into the RC world and they don't have a single good thing to say about drones, especially the quads. I was shocked when I got our first drone. It was more accurate and stable than anything I'd ever seen before. I use it to keep an eye on the cows during calving season and it works great. Saves me from hiking miles over hill and dale looking for those girls who seek out the most remote inaccessible place possible to throw their calf's. What used to take hours now only takes minutes. But I digress, sorry.