Accosted and Vandalized

[Vilco]

You can play dumb on flying there. However, damaging someone's property is NEVER okay. Trust me.
Call the police

+1
And that was to be done soon after the fact, IMO

 

[tcope]

No follow up from the OP and never posted any pictures to confirmed. Good chance this was just a troll.

 

[DejaViewz]

F that.
No way that punk would be walking away from smashing my stuff like that.
Even if it meant a fine for flying in restricted space.

 

[mavicn00b]

Burn his house down

 

[Nikon1]

Whether it happened or not, this is an interesting read from a sociological standpoint.

 

[Islandguy27]

Regardless if what you were doing was legal or not no one can wantonly destroy someone's property. He had no authority over what you were doing. If he didn't like it he should have called the police. I wouldn't think twice about small claims court. Win, get a judgement and one day sooner or later you will get your money. But, in the meantime you get the satisfaction of dragging his *** into court.

 

[Rbruz]

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.

I surf State park often as in weekly, sup surfing uses a paddle so state lifeguards yell over speaker at many to stay south of ok sign blah blah, mond you it not illegal its just the surf clib bitching, in any event at this state beach and I bet the one you were at its also illegal to drink booze yet everyone does it including the idiots that cry to lifeguards about some of the sups being a hubdred yards past the sign mind you they have one mile of sweet surf we get 1/16mi worth So I would tottaly sue that guy in civil court, threatening you is also illegal if he doesn't like it, he supposed to call cops, not play cop. Don't let this go, he assaulted you end of story !!!!

 

[mavicn00b]

Flying a drone in a California state park is not illegal in itself. National parks are but they are a whole different ball game.

https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/937/files/csp_uas.pdf

Drones are currently allowed in State Parks, State Beaches, State Historic Parks, State Recreational Areas, and State Vehicular Recreation Areas except where prohibited by a District Superintendent’s posted order.


I'd be filling a police report

 

[VortexSpin]

As much as I would LOVE to see something terrible happen to this guy, and maybe I'd even react this way if it actually happened to me, but looking at it from a 3rd person's perspective, I think "taking revenge" is a poor choice.

The message you're sending is: "What you did to me is terrible, ******, immature and the sign of a weak man, so now I'm going to do the same thing." How does vandalism make you any different than this *******? Yes, I know it would feel really good in the short run, but at the end of the day, you're lowering yourself to his level. If we all played by those rules we'd live in total anarchy. (Why call police? Just take revenge!)

I know it's easy to "take the high road" when it didn't actually happen to me, but I still say either beat him in court, legally, or just be the bigger man and walk away. Plus, if you did extract revenge, you'd probably spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder, paranoid, waiting for his next move.

Oh that sucks. Life is a roller coaster as "they" say. OP perhaps include in your kit some Raid bug spray for your wife to protect you all from such "pests" - just sayin'. Who knows what this dude would do after he was done with the MP? Remember to state: "I feared for my safety." Just sayin'.

 

[dmanisgnarly]

I can see it now in the headlines, "Man says his drone was destroyed why flying in illegal area". Dude, it does suck but admitting you were in the wrong from the getgo buries your case in the sand.

 

[QuadKid]

Hind sight is 20/20 this is why I HIGHLY recommend buying an insurance policy for any drone, it would have replaced your Mavic for usually around 60-70 buck a year no mater what type of loss, I use State Farm for my Mavic

 

[Rbruz]

I can see it now in the headlines, "Man says his drone was destroyed why flying in illegal area". Dude, it does suck but admitting you were in the wrong from the getgo buries your case in the sand.

So you are saying that, say in Venice Beach signs are posted " no skateboarding" its illegal yet a guy is on it, joe wanna be cop can come over grab and smash? Same thing you pull up and spot a guy texting while driving so joe wanna be can reach in grab phone smash it, right ? NO society doesn't work that way, the guy needs to pay for what he did !!!!

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Hind sight is 20/20 this is why I HIGHLY recommend buying an insurance policy for any drone, it would have replaced your Mavic for usually around 60-70 buck a year no mater what type of loss, I use State Farm for my Mavic

What's the deductible on this policy?

 

[tcope]

What's the deductible on this policy?

Almost always no deductible.

 

[m0j0]

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.

No.. that's why you push to have the authorities do their job. Flying where you aren't supposed to be flying is a fine at worst.

 

[m0j0]

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.

No it isn't. Pretty close to physical assault.. walked up took your property and destroyed it. Not the same as flew over a beach he wasn't supposed to.

 

[m0j0]

Great analogy!

No it isn't. Flying a Mavic over a beach is not a crime. It might be prohibited like letting your dog crap in the park and you walk away without picking it up but it is nowhere in the class of possessing a prohibited controlled substance. You guys are worse than the paranoid old folks.

 

[QuadKid]

What's the deductible on this policy?

Same here 0 deductible

 

[Bunny Too]

Burn his house down

Careful people, let us be civil, non violent and stay on topic.

 

[m0j0]

So you are saying that, say in Venice Beach signs are posted " no skateboarding" its ilegal

Again, most of the time these are city ordinances that prohibit a certain action. I know it's semantics but I reserve the term illegal for something that will result in your arrest. Riding a skateboard at the park is prohibited, they will likely run you off not handcuff you. If you do get handcuff it will be for something other than riding a skateboard in the park. Same principle here, although there is some dispute as to whether it is prohibited or not. National Parks Prohibit quad flights city parks, etc may not.No matter how you codify it. Under these circumstances there is no justification for a citizen to come and take your property; make threats and destroy your property. Theft and destruction of property is illegal. e.g. you can be arrested for it and or incarcerated. So all these comments stating that the operator would be in far more trouble than the clown that commited a criminal act need to seriously evaluate the circumstances here. One action is prohibited and..... not proven. The second is criminal and you have the evidence. Call the police and follow-up.

Here is an example... you are a total jack-hammer. You pull into and park in a prohibited parking space. Let's even say it is a handicapped spot in front of the Country Kichen Buffet on all you can eat Tuesday, Senior Citizen Bingo night. Well, a son of one of the seniors see's this and comes out of the building, threatens you and then decides to rip the mirror off your 2018 Corvette Stingray. Then he walks back inside (Far-fetched yes because it's unlikely people would be walking after this exchange). It's a criminal act and the police should be called to investigate. Could you get fined for parking there yes. Could the idiot who ripped off your mirror be arrested yep!