Accosted and Vandalized

[Montmark]

A week ago I was flying my Mavic on a local beach here in California which is a State Park, yes, illegal. I had been flying over some surfers for about 20 minutes and near a bluff with some houses overlooking the ocean and had landed and was preparing to leave when seemingly out of nowhere a man come sprinting down the beach and screams a profanity at me, grabs my Magic and smashes it over his knee saying something like "stay away from my windows." He finishes by ripping off an arm and the camera and throws my Mavic down to the sand and runs away. My wife and I are too stunned to speak much less have the presence of mind to take a picture of him. A young woman on the beach about thirty feet away and a group of surfers in the parking lot witness the whole incident. The local sheriff refers my call to State Park Police. Someone takes my report over the phone and does not contact me the rest of the week even though I call three consecutive days for an update on the "investigation." In the meantime I do some research and identify the man. We are a small community and this was very easy to do. Someone who knows the man says she has had "problems with him in the past." If State Park Police are unable or unwilling to prosecute do I have any other recourse? Of course I would like to recover the cost of a replacement Mavic. Do I need an attorney to file a small claims court case? This has been quite upsetting the past week to the point I've lost sleep thinking about it. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

 

[Kilrah]

I would scrap it as a loss... yeah it sucks and he's a moron who clearly needs punishment, but if you go further you risk someone going at you for flying in the park (could be him reporting you out of frustration if anything happens to him and he's advised to do so by a lawyer, or the local police), and there you likely risk MUCH more than the $750 of a Mavic.

 

[Maxheadspace]

Small claims court doesn't necessarily require lawyers. Where I'm at it costs $15 to file. I've used it in the past with good results. That's a thousand bucks lost due to some *******. Do a little research on small claims.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Sorry about the Mavic. I won't go into the whole illegal flying thing; I'm sure you've been beating yourself up over that ("If only I wasn't flying there illegally none of this would have happened.") This guy would have gone ape-poo no matter the location. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yes, you could pursue charges, but it will be a huge headache and could go on for quite a while. Then, even if you get a judgement, you still have to collect.

I'd chalk this one up to "play stupid games, win stupid prizes". Don't get down on yourself. I, like many here, have won many stupid prizes over the years.

Buy a new Mavic body (I assume the battery and controller are OK) and use this one for parts (if it can't be repaired or repairs cost too much.).

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum but sorry about your reason for joining .
You wouldn't happen to have picture's of the damage he done would ya ?

 

[Montmark]

Yes, I have pictures of the damage. Why do you ask?

 

[dirkclod]

Yes, I have pictures of the damage. Why do you ask?

Would like to see them is all . No reason in particular other than you
just joined with what this guy did to you and would like to see the damage .

 

[BuzzyOne]

I'd let it go as you are opening yourself up to charges for flying illegally.

 

[dirkclod]

That is a thought Buzzy but you can't just let someone do such and walk away .

 

[PT_Mavic]

I would scrap it as a loss... yeah it sucks and he's a moron who clearly needs punishment, but if you go further you risk someone going at you for flying in the park (could be him reporting you out of frustration if anything happens to him and he's advised to do so by a lawyer, or the local police), and there you likely risk MUCH more than the $750 of a Mavic.

That's a pretty valid reason to let it go, officially.
It'd be a real shame, though, if a flying brick somehow got away from its pilot and proceeded through this lunatic's precious window late one night. Could be chalked up to karma, I suppose.

 

[warlock 31]

A week ago I was flying my Mavic on a local beach here in California which is a State Park, yes, illegal. I had been flying over some surfers for about 20 minutes and near a bluff with some houses overlooking the ocean and had landed and was preparing to leave when seemingly out of nowhere a man come sprinting down the beach and screams a profanity at me, grabs my Magic and smashes it over his knee saying something like "stay away from my windows." He finishes by ripping off an arm and the camera and throws my Mavic down to the sand and runs away. My wife and I are too stunned to speak much less have the presence of mind to take a picture of him. A young woman on the beach about thirty feet away and a group of surfers in the parking lot witness the whole incident. The local sheriff refers my call to State Park Police. Someone takes my report over the phone and does not contact me the rest of the week even though I call three consecutive days for an update on the "investigation." In the meantime I do some research and identify the man. We are a small community and this was very easy to do. Someone who knows the man says she has had "problems with him in the past." If State Park Police are unable or unwilling to prosecute do I have any other recourse? Of course I would like to recover the cost of a replacement Mavic. Do I need an attorney to file a small claims court case? This has been quite upsetting the past week to the point I've lost sleep thinking about it. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

If you know where he lives take a baseball bat to his car see how he likes that crap.

 

[warlock 31]

Sorry I'm not in a very forgiving mood today but he would not have walked away

 

[Kilrah]

It's all about OP's situation and choice at the end of the day.

The moron deserves punishment - but if you want to pursue that you must expect a (probably) 10 times bigger punishment yourself since what you did is probably an "even more" illegal thing than what he did.

Either OP's fully honest and OK with each side taking the beat they deserve, or he shuts up, everything hopefully stops here and he only loses a Mavic.

 

[BuzzyOne]

That is a thought Buzzy but you can't just let someone do such and walk away .

Indeed, but the penalty/consequences for illegally flying may be more than what can be gained in small claims. Certainly I would go after them if the legality of the flight were not in question.

 

[dirkclod]

Well I agree with you there . Dang if you do and dang if you don't .

 

[rcflyingaddict]

In CA as well and there are LOTS and LOTS of state parks near the ocean - great photo/video ops but unfortunately nfz's. We also have tons of small airports so finding a spot to fly safe and legal can be challenging. If you not been in an illegal area to fly I would guess/assume that you would have either ran at the person when he was nearing your MP or at least ran after him after something like this?

 

[gnirtS]

A week ago I was flying my Mavic on a local beach here in California which is a State Park, yes, illegal. I

Instant karma is a ***** (and no, not the gopro karma).

 

[superdave5050]

I'd find out what the fine would be if ticketed for flying where you were and then decide if it's worth taking him to small claims court. I do like the idea of taking a bat to his car and inflicting a 1000 bucks worth of damage but
the guilt would weigh on me also.
You know 2 wrongs don't make it right thing.
Good luck and sorry for your loss.

 

[BuzzyOne]

For civil invasion of privacy (which the nutter homeowner will surely claim), no less than $5,000 and no more than $50,000.

 

[TrayBoz]

The only problem with small claims court (at least in Texas), is that even if you win the case, there is almost nothing that can be done to make the loser pay up. I won $350 in small claims court a long time ago - I never received a dime, and there was nothing I could do about it. You can't have someone arrested for failure to pay a claim like this (at least not in Texas in 2009).

The guy that broke your mavic probably had no idea whether or not you were flying there legally or not. He probably wouldn't know a NFZ from an STD. But if you took him to court and he looked into it a little bit, it wouldn't be hard for him to find out you weren't legally allowed to be flying there, and have the case thrown out, or win a counter-suit for invasion of privacy or something ridiculous like that.

You could go the ultra-extreme route and sue for psychological damage / terrorizing you and your wife, threatening your life, cursing at you, ripping your drone from your hands and smashing it along with the threat. You and your wife have not been able to sleep since then, right? You get the shakes every time you go near that beach now, right? But this would cost a lot in attorney's fees, take forever, and probably be a huge waste of time. - Welcome to America!