47 Year Old William H. Merideth Arrested for Criminal Mischief & Wanton Endangerment For Shooting Drone Down Over His Yard While Daughter was Sunbathing

REALLY, ITS A CRIME TO PROTECT YOUR DAUGHTER FROM PERVS?

The Washington Times is reporting that 47 year old William H. Merideth was arrested for first degree criminal mischief and wanton endangerment after he shot a drone out of the sky. Merideth claims the drone was hovering over his property while his daughter was sunbathing. Sorry, I would have probably done the same thing. In this day and age with the access of individuals to drones with video capability and the all-too voyeuristic our society have become, it should be considered an invasion of privacy. The owner of the drone claimed he was only trying to take pictures of a friend’s house. Sure you were. Sorry, but the person use of drones by irresponsible individuals has become nothing but a menace, just ask firefighters.

A Kentucky man shot down an $1,800 drone hovering over his sunbathing daughter and was then arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first-degree wanton endangerment.

“My daughter comes in and says, ‘Dad, there’s a drone out here flying,’ ” William H. Merideth, 47, told a local Fox News affiliate reported Tuesday. The Bullitt County father shot at the drone, which crashed in a field near his yard Sunday night.

The owner of the drone claims he was only trying to take pictures of a friend’s house, the station reported.

“I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property,’ ” Mr. Merideth said, noting that the drone briefly disappeared when his daughter waved it off. “Within a minute or so, here it came. It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky. I didn’t shoot across the road, I didn’t shoot across my neighbor’s fences, I shot directly into the air.”

Hillview man arrested for shooting down drone; cites right to privacy.

WDRB News spoke with Merideth Tuesday afternoon, and he gave his side of the story.

“Sunday afternoon, the kids – my girls – were out on the back deck, and the neighbors were out in their yard,” Merideth said. “And they come in and said, ‘Dad, there’s a drone out here, flying over everybody’s yard.’”

Merideth’s neighbors saw it too.

“It was just hovering above our house and it stayed for a few moments and then she finally waved and it took off,” said neighbor Kim VanMeter.

VanMeter has a 16-year-old daughter who lays out at their pool. She says a drone hovering with a camera is creepy and weird.

“I just think you should have privacy in your own backyard,” she said.

Merideth agrees and said he had to go see for himself.

“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 under their back yard,” Merideth said. “I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property.’”

That moment soon arrived, he said.

“Within a minute or so, here it came,” he said. “It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky.”