Heart Broken

[jato]

You,and I, have a much different thought process. Lived here for 18 years, bought the land, bulldozed the old house, and built a new place. Plan to grow old here, love this area, and my neighbors. We get together for community functions, and visit with each other. I raised my daughter here, and the neighbors would do anything for her. But we have enough respect for each other to not be shooting up each other's property. But if some psycho moved into the area, and started shooting stuff up, then it would not be long, before they met a bullet, of that I am sure. There are lots of old timers around, who are second or third generation to this area, and they have been very clear, they will defend themselves and their property with force. Personally I think that I live in one of the greatest places on earth! You go ahead and call 911, and wait a few hours for the police to show up though...

My great grandfather homesteaded this hill my mother is on at the turn of the 1900s. My father ( now passed) built the home my mother lives in 1968. She’s had excellent relations with all her neighbors. This guy & his wife & child move in four years ago and my mom extended a hand of friendship even sending birthday cards for their kid. The neighbor in question apparently had his wife & child leave about a year ago & she has divorced him.
it was a bad situation with the police visiting on numerous occasions for domestic disturbance. Since the divorce there’s what I would describe as loud parties a couple times a month. So loud that mom who’s hard of hearing in both ears has been disturbed at late hours.
Actually everyone in the neighborhood had tried to befriend him only to be disrespected in the end. I could go on with the various ways he’s violated his neighbors trust & privacy. Everyone tries to leave him be in hopes he’ll keep to himself but to no avail. I erected a wall with a fence and others did the same.
He is the reason that after over 100 years in our family we’re selling the place. It’s a beautiful well built home that’s already in my name that I’d love to live in and pass onto my daughter. But he’s such a horrible person we had decided to sell before this latest issue. My wife & I live in a rural area on the Washington coast on a few acres. We all look out for each other out here.
I could never go back to having someone just a few feet away let alone a lunatic. How do folks cope with living in apartments with people above below & either side? I can’t even imagine.

 

[dirkclod]

It’s with my original post now, being new to this forum It took a few to figure how to post a video.

Am aware of that you never should have edited your first post just added it to the thread. Is why I added what I did to your OP.
Now theres something thats been bothering me ever since the thread started and will just ask you about it here now.
No doubt this guy is guilty and hope he gets convicted on local and federal laws he broke.You get full restitution and your mother does not have to deal with any fallout from any of this i really do.
But you said

I went straight up to 300ft & slowly came down taking pics and video.

This video you posted does not show that,something totally different .
You also said

At about 35ft her neighbor came running out of his house with a shotgun screaming like a madman

Looks to me he walked out ,turned his back to you and waited for you to lower it then he shot it and it from the video fell in his yard.
So it just puzzles me like you're not telling all that really happened.
I get all this from this clip you posted.

To get this straight in my mind i would have to see your flight log like this from my last flight using the app.


I see no fault in your flight and he was bad wrong to do what he did but it don't add up from what you said and what i see.
Post your log like i did of the last flight so we can see just what you did as you just didn't

I went straight up to 300ft & slowly came down

Good luck and do hope justice is done quickly and your mother
gets to sell her house and get away from that guy.

 

[DoomMeister]

Actually he was in his house. He ran out of his house, down the stairs from his deck and across his yard. If he or anyone else had been outside I’d probably taken more care not to decrease altitude but I admit I was distracted by trying to explain things to my mother. I’m 60 and have to flip my eyeglasses up to see up close, that is distracting. My mom has severe hearing and vision issues so while I gave my complete and undivided attention to most of the flight I did unfortunately take a few seconds at the end to attempt to capture a picture of the two of us. Even though I’ve been flying RC fixed wing & variable pitch rotor for decades this was only my second drone flight. The controls weren’t natural yet. Further more, I actually didn’t think this guy was even home. He has a reputation in the neighborhood for causing trouble and had I been aware he was lurking in his home peering out the window waiting for an opportunity, I would have done it differently. Honestly I could see him being upset if I’d had this for sometime and been repeatedly overflying his place. He would absolutely have a reason to come knock on our door like a rational person and tell me it’s irritating & knock it off. And if it continued I’d expect him to call the police. And after all that if I was still doing something wrong I could in some way justify him taking action. But that’s not the case. This was the first and only time this craft or anything of mine ever crossed the corner of his lot.

Don’t get me wrong, his actions were criminal and unjustifiable. I had a similar neighbor for 14 years, he and his family were total nut jobs and a bane to the neighborhood. They were foreclosed on in January 2019 and we now have a young couple that are fixing the place up and are good neighbors.

I feel for your situation and hope this incident will get this social pariah into enough hot water to cool his jets for the foreseeable future.

 

[dougiefresh27]

(For those just starting to read this note that this post was edited and video and pictures were added
after most of what you will read was posted.)
Been a fixed wing & variable pitch rotor RC Pilot for 20 years. I was itching to buy a drone & couldn’t pass up on the Air 2
I was so impressed with the stability even in windy conditions and the incredible vistas. But it’s all over for now. Yesterday I took my MA2 up to my 88 yr old mothers home she’s preparing to list for sale to get some aerial shots. I went straight up to 300ft & slowly came down taking pics and video. At about 35ft her neighbor came running out of his house with a shotgun screaming like a madman. I can’t repeat what he said but it was the ranting of a lunatic. Within seconds he fired both barrels & my newest buddy fell into her yard. I calmly call the police. Cut to the chase, he’s getting charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm in a residential area & reckless endangerment. Fortunately I was doing everything by the book and presented pictures & video to illustrate how carefully I was flying. I was so looking forward to going out to some scenic places this week and having some fun. Here’s the video link-

lower left is the “person” with rifle waiting for me to come into land. Center is myself & 88 yr old mother. She’s legally deaf & was startled by shotgun blast. View attachment 102778View attachment 102779View attachment 102780

NOthing like having irrefutable evidence of this crime. Glad you were unharmed and hope a judge rules that he pays you back

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

Shooting in a high congestion area like that is beyond reckless. Really fortunate nobody was killed!

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

My great grandfather homesteaded this hill my mother is on at the turn of the 1900s. My father ( now passed) built the home my mother lives in 1968. She’s had excellent relations with all her neighbors. This guy & his wife & child move in four years ago and my mom extended a hand of friendship even sending birthday cards for their kid. The neighbor in question apparently had his wife & child leave about a year ago & she has divorced him.
it was a bad situation with the police visiting on numerous occasions for domestic disturbance. Since the divorce there’s what I would describe as loud parties a couple times a month. So loud that mom who’s hard of hearing in both ears has been disturbed at late hours.
Actually everyone in the neighborhood had tried to befriend him only to be disrespected in the end. I could go on with the various ways he’s violated his neighbors trust & privacy. Everyone tries to leave him be in hopes he’ll keep to himself but to no avail. I erected a wall with a fence and others did the same.
He is the reason that after over 100 years in our family we’re selling the place. It’s a beautiful well built home that’s already in my name that I’d love to live in and pass onto my daughter. But he’s such a horrible person we had decided to sell before this latest issue. My wife & I live in a rural area on the Washington coast on a few acres. We all look out for each other out here.
I could never go back to having someone just a few feet away let alone a lunatic. How do folks cope with living in apartments with people above below & either side? I can’t even imagine.

I grew up in a large city, hated it, joined the military and lived on base, or on a base in Afghanistan for my three tours. When I left the military, got married, and had a daughter, moved to another city, but at least it was smaller, and only 130k people. Then I moved further north, bought a lot of land, 37 acres, and we lived in a very rough old farm house, while building the new home, then bulldozed the old house. We were so happy, life was great, we were planning to have another child, when my wife was killed by a drunk driver. Found out that she was even pregnant when she passed away. No way I could go back to city living, and I raised my now adult daughter out here. She told me to please leave her the house in my will, because she loves it here. I want to be cremated and my ashes spread on the little lake in our backyard.

 

[Ajkari]

@jato its a crazy world we live in but I reckon that you'll be compensated so it should be all good in terms of being up flying again. Did you hear anything from DJI? (I might have missed a post or two)

@Motorcycle Rider thats absolutely heartbreaking. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Mr.H.]

Take the neighbor to small claims court for the price of your drone. If the neighbor was charged, it's pretty much an open and closed case in your favor.

 

[Rcthethird]

In your first post I got the impression that you just flew straight up over your mother’s property and not out over your neighbor’s back yards. While it is illegal for the neighbor to take the action he did, yours was not exactly considerate of your neighbor’s privacy either. Especially when you brought it down to a lower altitude within what I would guess to be thirty feet away from where he was standing. Just saying there is a fine line of being legally right and being socially wrong.

30 to 50 I put it, which I would never have done due to others privacy.

 

[jato]

Am aware of that you never should have edited your first post just added it to the thread. Is why I added what I did to your OP.
Now theres something thats been bothering me ever since the thread started and will just ask you about it here now.
No doubt this guy is guilty and hope he gets convicted on local and federal laws he broke.You get full restitution and your mother does not have to deal with any fallout from any of this i really do.
But you said
This video you posted does not show that,something totally different .
You also said
Looks to me he walked out ,turned his back to you and waited for you to lower it then he shot it and it from the video fell in his yard.
So it just puzzles me like you're not telling all that really happened.
I get all this from this clip you posted.

To get this straight in my mind i would have to see your flight log like this from my last flight using the app.

View attachment 103161
I see no fault in your flight and he was bad wrong to do what he did but it don't add up from what you said and what i see.
Post your log like i did of the last flight so we can see just what you did as you just didn't
Good luck and do hope justice is done quickly and your mother
gets to sell her house and get away from that guy.

Dirkclod; My description of the event in the post was with advantage of more information hours after. There’s a retaining wall & 6ft privacy fence between us, I could see him exit his house from a second story sliding door onto his deck and start down the stairs at a rapid pace. Once he was halfway down the stairs he was out of my vision. I could hear him yelling in his house and as he emerged but didn’t pay attention, my attention was on my mom & the drone I didn’t think it concerned me and he yells a lot so it wasn’t unusual. Had I payed attention & listened and been watching my display I would have realized this was all directed towards me. I’ve been beating myself up over my lack of attention, it could have been avoided. I can assure you he was yelling the entire time including after the shot when I confronted him from a ladder over the fence. I did shorten the video to where he appears & the incident takes place. The entire video was several gigs and included 20 minutes of black after the shot. I’d already taken the pics of the house with my wife’s input & asked her to have my mom come out. While I was waiting for her I flew around a little. This was only my second time flying a drone of any kind & letting something leave my sight still feels uncomfortable. With my RC planes they’re gone if you lose track of um. Anyway, yes the post was a condensed version with all the knowledge gleaned from the video, hindsight, the police and the drone itself. I actually didn’t know for sure it was a shotgun he used until the officer told me. The city has a copy of the entire video from liftoff to the officers arrival and they’ve instructed me to keep the micro sd intact. The police took several pics of the area and the aircraft & subsequently gave me the okay to send it in to be replaced/repaired.
I checked the tracking number and it arrived last Friday at the DJI service center. The forum world is unfamiliar to me, my only experience is one for Toy Fox Terriers & that consists of posting pics. I had viewed this Mavic forum as a non member several times and it helped me come to the decision to purchase the air 2. Hopefully soon I’ll have my Mavic back & be posting beautiful pictures of the Long Beach peninsula where my wife & I live.
I hope this explains some of the inconsistencies in the original post and in general my lack of savvy using the forum.

 

[vaderbloke]

FAA Confirms Shooting A Drone Is A Federal Crime. So When Will U.S. Prosecute?

With at least a dozen reported shootings of drones and no federal prosecutions, it's time for the Department of Justice to step up and send a message that these dangerous actions will not be tolerated.

www.forbes.com

 

[jato]

One of you longtimers let me know if this is the correct way to add to my comments, this is the first forum I’ve participated in.
I just wanted to wind up my comments.
There’s no doubt in my inexperience I did some things wrong. Lack of attention also contributed. There’s a number of choices that were incorrect in retrospect. Regardless of the cost I will continue this “hobby” with the hard earned experience this has brought about. Right off the bat I said “I’m so impressed with everything about the Mavic Air 2”. There’s no conceivable way I’m going into the future without one of the coolest pieces of technology I’ve owned. I want to thank everybody for their input and look forward to interacting here on a more positive subject.

 

[dirkclod]

FAA Confirms Shooting A Drone Is A Federal Crime. So When Will U.S. Prosecute?

With at least a dozen reported shootings of drones and no federal prosecutions, it's time for the Department of Justice to step up and send a message that these dangerous actions will not be tolerated.

www.forbes.com

Ok, first thing it says is

. This article is more than 4 years old.

.
Not sure what your point is but welcome to the forum.

 

[dronerdave]

@jato

I always expect that a legal flight might be considered a privacy concern by some people even though you're 100% legal. It can happen anywhere. Your mistake was flying that low over his property and anticipating he wasn't home or thought he wouldn't show up especially since you had an idea how wacko this guy is. Please don't take this as me trying to flame you as we all see things from different angles, but even without a camera on board would you have flown one of your RC helo's over his property doing 3D stunts? Again, I'm not saying what this idiot did was right. Even if you did fly from 300 feet AGL and landed straight down over your moms property he still might have tried to shoot it down...but the video seems to show that you were over his property. Your original post was lacking the info on how low you were until you showed the video.

Anyway you handled it well and I hope you hold him responsible (if you think it's worth it). I do hope the PD throws the book at him.

 

[lookout]

If you want to really pull somebody in, you'd have to be several miles away for them to not be able to see the drone (that's the military use). You would have to go high to get the long distance. In the midst however, you have people directly around you thinking you're in their backyard.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

After he has been "convicted/found guilty" (hopefully) of unlawful discharge of a firearm, then it's time for small claims court to get compensated for the loss of your camera equipment....

Best advice I read on these 8 pages and if nothing works out, this will.

The "Deliberate" clause from DJI Refresh may not apply to you since it wasn't YOU that deliberately damaged the UAS. It reads like the company is protecting themselves from folks who do dumb things and end up breaking them, which wasn't your case. Call them and ask, that's your best course of action; these forums tend to go on for days on speculation.

 

[E90RAW]

View attachment 102559
Perhaps you should introduced him to your little ones big brother???? JOKE,

Now thats a DRONE!!!

 

[lookout]

Now thats a DRONE!!!

The rest of us just have quadrocopters.

 

[dirkclod]

Guys about all that can be said here has.been said and @jato is just going to see what transpires .When hes has a update for all he can ether start another thread or tell me
in a message we have going and I will reopen it.
Till then all be safe and try not to fly around wacko’s.?

To Be Continued.​