DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Kentucky Man Who Shot Drone Out Of The Sky With Shotgun Arrested; Faces Two Felony Charges

Aug 1, 2015 by Tiffany Mueller 34 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

ky-drone

On July 26, 2015, William H. Merideth was enjoying the afternoon with his daughters in the backyard of his Hillview, Kentucky home when they noticed a drone flying around the neighborhood. When the drone finally made it’s way over Merideth’s property, he was armed and ready to shoot the device out of the sky, which he did with a shotgun he procured from his house as the drone was making it’s way over.

He was promptly confronted by the drone owner/operator, David Boggs, who ended up calling the police on Merideth. Merideth was arrested and charged with first degree wanton endangerment and criminal mischief for firing a shotgun into the air. He was released the following day.

“Well, I came out and it was down by the neighbor’s house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they’ve got in their back yard. I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property…Within a minute or so, here it came. It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky,” Meridith told WDRB.

Not unexpectedly, Boggs has an much different version of what went down. “The bottom line is we didn’t do it. We didn’t hover, we didn’t go down, we didn’t do any of that. There’s no way I’m going to fly below the trees the second day I owned it,” said Boggs. He also noted that the memory card, which contained the video footage of the incident was missing when he recovered his mangled device from Meridith. Meridith says he has no idea what happened to card.

Though video from the flight in question would most likely have provided plenty of evidence to see what really took place, it seems like that is out of the question. Boggs did, however, share his drone’s flight path and tracking information in the news clip below, which appears to support his version of what happened.

Despite the drone tracking video Boggs shared with WDRB in the video clip above, Meridith insists the drone was flying at low altitudes, telling a local news station, “He didn’t just fly over. If he had been moving and just kept moving, that would have been one thing — but when he come directly over our heads, and just hovered there, I felt like I had the right.”

In the state of Kentucky, wanton endangerment in the first degree and criminal mischief in the first degree,  are each considered class D felonies. According to WDRB, Merideth does not plan to refute the charges and could be facing a fine up to $10,000 and up to 5 years in state prison for each count.

Personally, I believe Boggs’ account of the story. But, that being said, I understand how Merideth could find a drone hovering over his house–even at 250′ altitude–to be an invasion of privacy or a safety hazard, though, considering he fired a gun into the air in the middle of a neighborhood, I’m not entirely sure if safety was his main priority.

There seems to be an even split of proponents and opponents when it comes to these sort of stories. Judging by some of the internet commentary made in relation to this latest drone vs. shotgun debacle, we’re all still pretty divided. What’s your opinion, should Merideth be facing a two felony charges (assuming he is found guilty) or do you think the punishment is unfair?

[ via NPR | WDRB ]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Photographer Arrested On Charges of Filming 16-Year-Old Girl in Dressing Room Driver charged with felony assault for threatening photographer with his vehicle French Photojournalist faces criminal charges over image of Paris attack victim Student faces spying charges in Egypt after taking a photo from an airplane

Filed Under: news Tagged With: drone

Tiffany Mueller: from diyphotography.net

About Tiffany Mueller

Tiffany Mueller is a photographer based in Hawi, Hawaii. You can follow her Twitter here and her personal life here.

« Sony A7r II Noise Comparison And Rolling Shutter Test
Sony Announces Plans To Shutdown Their Online Store; Deals & Clearance Sale Unlikely »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • AstrHori new 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope lens sees round corners
  • Sony World Photography Awards under fire for age limitations in Student contest
  • 5 ways to find inspiration when the weather is sad and grey
  • Photographers, keep an eye out for auroras around the world this weekend
  • How to make beautiful frozen soap bubble photos this winter

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy