Bloke Whose Drone Was Blasted Out of Sky by Angry Dad Loses Another Court Battle for Compo
26th March 2017
In July 2015, William Merideth, 47, was at home in Hillview, Kentucky, America, when his daughter came in from sunbathing in the garden to say there was a drone buzzing overhead. As a firm believer in his Second Amendment rights, Merideth loaded up his shotgun with bird shot, waited until the camera-fitted quadcopter came over his home, and then took it down with a single shot – which bought the drone’s operators running.
“They asked me, ‘Are you the S-O-B that shot my drone?’ and I said, ‘Yes I am’,” he told journalists. “I had my Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, ‘If you cross my sidewalk, there’s gonna be another shooting’.”
Heh.
The police were called and they arrested Merideth – not for shooting down the drone per se, but for discharging a firearm within city limits. In October, a judge agreed with Merideth (now known as the Drone Slayer) that he was within his rights to take down the trespassing drone. The dad was cleared of all charges.
And rightly so.
David Boggs, the drone’s owner, was not a happy chap. He sued Merideth for the $1,500 it had cost to replace his toy, insisting that only the US Federal Aviation Administration has the right to control airspace, so his aircraft couldn’t have been trespassing.
March 26th, 2017 at 15:32
As our privacy continues to erode, look for more incidents of this type happening. Congratulations to Merideth.
All this new technology accomplishes is to open a new venue for stalkers and peepers to practice their slimy “hobbies”.