Quadrocopter pilot attacked by drone-hating woman

First don't take the law into your own hands, especially if you don't understand the law. If you call the police wait for them to show up even if it takes a long time. This was a low priority call until it became an assault. She was sticking her hands in his mouth!

You have no expectation of privacy when you are at a public beach. She would have had a reasonable expectation if she was sunbathing in a fenced yard at her private property.

You have no expectation of privacy on a public beach or any place in public. That was her first mistake. Her second was assaulting him. My hat is off to him for remaining cool and not striking her back while she was assaulting him. It would have put the whole situation in another light. Speaking out loud an clear so it could be heard on the recording was the proper thing to do. If she had real done something to hurt him then he could have defended himself. At most he lost a shirt. I'm sure as part of her conviction she will be made to replace it.

People really have no clue about the law or your right to privacy while in public. A few years ago my neighborhood had just held a neighborhood watch program with the local police. About a month later I witnessed two guys committing a property crime outside my home. I had inadvertently run into them while working outside and asked what they were doing. They gave me attitude and refused to leave when asked. As the police instructed in our recent meeting, I took their pictures with my phone and called the police and went inside my home to wait. When they came I gave the pictures to the officers and they were able to catch the suspects a few blocks away. I shared the pictures with our neighborhood watch folks so neighbors would know who to watch for in the future. One of my neighbors then circulated a letter to everyone in my neighborhood (about 100 homes) and said I took pictures of children without their permission without any explanation as to what the context or circumstances were. They didn't mention that I called the police and the police caught the suspects because of my picture. They also didn't mention the two men were in their mid and late 20's, from out of state and had no reason to be on our private property committing a crime. This letter made me sound like a pervert who was out sneaking around taking pictures of children in their bedroom or something that was actually illegal. I filed harassment charges against the idiot who circulated the letter and after requesting they issue a written correction via my lawyer and their refusal to do so, I sued them and they eventually moved out of state. A copy of the lawsuit including police reports with the suspects ages and the actual picture were distributed to everyone who received the misleading letter. I took a picture of two adult criminals standing within plain view of three streets while committing a crime on my property... they had no expectation of privacy!

Nothing is so satisfying as seeing the idiot who calls the cops get arrested! Except maybe a cheeseburger deluxe, with the fries extra crispy.

Geeze, that broad is a fruitcake!

So, he's taking videos of the beach. He could have called the cops and claimed, "There are half-naked people laying on the beach!"

Lady if I had taken video of you at any distance, after seeing you close up, I would certainly edit it out.

She got what she deserved. Hopefully, when all is said and done, she'll have a record from this. So the next time she chooses to make up her own rules on what is right and wrong, and do as she pleases, she won't be treated like a first time offender. It's a good thing that guy had his camera recording what was going on, without that, I suspect the police probably wouldn't have seen through her lies. As far as civil courts, I've sat on jurys before in civil proceedings. Jury's have a fair amount of leeway in civil cases. She may end up oweing him some money if he brings this to court. She would be better off sucking up her pride, appologizing to the guy, and ending this as soon as possible.

There are a lot of popular beliefs concerning privacy that are flat out wrong. The first one is anything that can be seen from a public place can be photographed. With the exception of commercial use, the image does not belong to the subject of the photo, it belongs to the photographer.

If you don't want your "short comings" photographed on the beach, keep your clothes on. If you don't want your house on Google Earth, build a wall. If you don't want people to see your property from the air, put a roof over it.

If you assault a photographer you stand a good chance of writing some large checks and spending time locked up with scary people who will approach you from the rear with affection.

I see no one has asked what the woman was doing that she was worried about be photographed, perhaps a little meeting that she didn't want her significant other to know about.

We had neighbors with the same attitude as Ms. Mears--they did wrong, and then they called the cops. Makes no sense, but then, lots of what goes on in this world makes no sense. God gave people free will------to act like idiots.

Cary

This lady should rather be concerned about what NSA is doing.

Oh my gosh - the issue has to be the woman assaulting the guy with the drone. Surely it can't be that he was taking photos. Look around you - you are being photographed and video'd hundreds of times every day, everywhere you go! Be realistic.

She needed a punch in the face, or to be tazed repeatedly when the cops showed up. What the hell was she thinking?

It's just a matter of time before one of these voyeurs is hammered or killed by some alcohol or drug crazed beach goer. Throw in a beach party of drunks and it's going to get real ugly, real fast.

resp. CW Currier. I don't think he uploaded the video until after he was assaulted. Don't know if that makes any difference, though.

All I can say is that he exercised a remarkable self-control. The first moment she laid hands on me, it would be Katie-bar-the-door. And of course, I would go to jail or be sued or both. Viva technology!

Great video. My next purchase will be a good dash-cam - WITH instant uploading.

There are people who don't believe the public should be allowed to take photographs at airports, of aircraft.

i think the guy was just trying to showoff his drone.
drones could hurt someone if they go out of control, they shouldnt be allowed in public places

Attack of the Drones! :-)

Why do people call these multi-rotor copters "drones"? They're no more (or less) a drone than an RC plane is. To me, a drone is something that performs a job. Even a drone bee has a specific job.

This lady had no reason to be concerned unless the copter was close to her, which it sounds like it wasn't. Crazy. She might as well assault everyone on the beach with a camera taking photos of the water/beach.

Don't call this guy a "pilot" -- that's an INSULT to those of us who actually strap real aircraft to ourselves and actually fly them. But apart from that --- who cares?

There are many good comments in this thread. As an owner and flyer of several such UAV's (unmannikined aerial vehicles) with cameras, I'll offer my own observations, please.

First, the article describing the incident seems one-sided. The pilot has the stage, and the "assaulting" woman has none. The pilot's statements seem cleverly contrived, such as "some crazy lady came over and started taking pictures of me, and dialed 911 for the 3rd time in 15 minutes."

Tell me please how he knows that? My smartphone has a camera, and I'd have to be fully prepared to take such video as that presented while being assaulted while obviously absolving ones right to defend ones self.

That being said, one has to question the man's motives. Was he flying in that locale because of simple open space? Was he hovering over people who were exposing their bodies to UV sunlight? Was the quadcopter FPV (first person view) indicating that he knew exactly what the camera was recording, or was it flown by sight with subsequent viewing from a micro-SD card without knowing the exact framing of the video?

Many such questions exist before coming to any kind of judgement, yet we are arriving at a point in history where one must recognize violence before delivering a measured response. In my opinion the arrest was entirely justified, yet any charges and subsequent convictions will depend on the presented facts of the man's piloting.

My preferences for quadcopter video are exploring rock structures in Utah, Colorado and Arizona, and anywhere I happen to be. Intruding on others peace and privacy (especially in public places) isn't part of my pleasure with video UAV's.

We don't know enough to judge. As a quad pilot, I have to question the man's intentions. The statements in the article are entirely one-sided. We haven't heard the woman's statements yet. Was he flying there simply because of open space or was he targeting her?

If he was, I'm on her side.

I've been reading the comments and everyone seems to think the video that was posted to YOUTUBE was the one taken from the Quadrocopter. I Cut & Paste from the first two sentences from the article: "Liveleaks has published an iPhone video taken by a Connecticut man of a woman assaulting him for flying a video-enabled quadrocopter on a public beach. The man originally posted the video to YouTube, but it has been taken down by the service, and his account has been suspended “as a violation of YouTube's policy prohibiting content designed to harass, bully, or threaten.” - Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but it sounds like YOUTUBE took down the video of the "assault taken from the Iphone" rather than the video taken from the Quadrocopter. Am I reading this correctly?

What has happened to integrity? She assaults him and then says he assaulted her..... that fact alone condemns her actions.

Hardly worth an assault charge.....

I would have kicked her in her face so hard her teeth would fall out. I call it self defense.

She was ugly anyways she deserved to be arrested next time dude find a nude beach

Open carry is also legal. Doesn't make it the smart thing to do.

That guy was A LOT nicer to her than I would have been. Video taping in public is legal. I do that kind of photography all the time... I would have had that B@#$h hauled off and filed charges against as well as sued her for damages.

I would have made sure I had video of her hitting me once, then I would have put her in the hospital, acting in self-defense.

THEN I would have had her arrested.

..Joe

Wow, unbelievable. Good thing he had the foresight to start recording. I bet the police would have taken them both in otherwise unless there were witnesses (which it doesn't sound like there were.)

So, those of you who think you shouldn't "fly" things at the beach....so, I can't bring my kite? Or my Frisbee?

Down here in the cajun country we love quadrocopters. Who cares about duck or dove season any more ? The only problem is I have yet to find recipe for them.

I have girls trying to tear my shirt off at the beach all the time. What's the big deal?

Pretty amazing. You try to have a nice, quiet hobby and some psycho appears out of nowhere to ruin your day.

Once again we see a hysterical knee jerk reactionary commit a battery against another person because they are "annoyed".
The guy is supposed to sit there and get hammered by this Harpy because if he defends himself and there is no video He gets to go to jail.
Even on this case SHE LIED to the cops and said he assaulted HER...
If she spotted someone 50 feet away taking photos in her direction, would she have reacted in the same manner? If the answer is yes, perhaps this wench needs to stay in her house and not come out.
BTE, as a rule I don't hit girls. But if a crazy female starts throwing haymakers my way, it's ON..Her problem if she gets floored.

The guy broke the law and admits it indirectly in the article. Not by taking the pictures, but by not maintaining a 400 foot distance from other people. This applies to all RC aircraft.

Just another American idiot female who thinks she has some sort of entitlement that allows her to assault another person simply because SHE doesn't like what that other person is doing.
Hope the cops spank her actually.

In the first place, Did he really need to be flying it there of all places? Yes, It was legal, but I'm sure there's a local park or related where he could of flown it as well. He could be a pervert like the woman said, but he may not. We don't know.
Also, She definitely overreacted. No need to do that. Calling the cops was ok. she was concerned and she did nothing wrong. Calling the cops three times and then assaulting him was over the line, as we all can see.

Sooner or later the question of "where our rights of privacy begin and end?" will have to be answered. Not just with drones but the soon to be very popular "Google Glasses". Why does a camera have to be attached to any type of drone? I thought it was the fun and challenge of flying, not to see what's over the fence.

How do we know he's NOT a pervert? I'm a pilot of 40+ years and a libertarian but I really don't like the idea of someone invading my personal space with a remote controlled peeping tom electric avatar.

A lot of armchair lawyering going on here, folks. May I (a lawyer) suggest that the issue is not whether one has a reasonable expectation of not being photographed in a public place. That is a Fourth Amendment issue applicable only to government intrusions and whether such intrusion without a warrant is reasonable. The issue here is quite different: We all have an enforceable privacy right to not have photographs or images of us PUBLISHED without our consent. The woman's conduct was woefully wrong, but her complaint was that the drone guy was uploading the video and, according to the report, he did (to YouTube). if the woman's image was recognizable in the video, she (and others) would have a civil remedy against the droner. Moreover, his conduct may have been illegal depending on his purpose. There are statutes in all states addressing the conduct for which, again according to the report, YouTube took the video down.

Good!

Geez smoki just give up - ur brain has expired :D
Yea Obama change every law - what r u even talking about ..

outlaw regime ! Yep and 43 was completely legit for sure !
Go Bush dill weed number 3 - well number 2 I actually liked 41

Go smoke some more

The lady who accosted the drone pilot did not exercise much restraint, but it is possible his actions were beyond the bounds of what a reasonable public would expect. Context would be the key issue when a court would judge such actions. When someone makes an assertion "you have no right to privacy on apublic beach", the statement would have to be qualified. Taken at its face value, the statement would mean that if your spouse or child were laying on a beach minding their own business and a person came up to them and started taking photos of them, let's say from very close range, and would not quit when asked to do so, I am not sure the "No right to privacy" line quoted above would hold up. In fact, it could fit the legal definition of harrassment, as there would be no logical reason for a stranger to be photographing you or your family when asked to stop. The person taking photos could claim it is his right to do so, but when his rights cause concern and harm to those innocent of any action prompting his photos, they could claim their rights have been violated. Where does your private space start and stop? If your teenage daughter was laying on a beach and a man was photographing her crotch from two feet away, would anyone deny this to be an invasion of privacy? Would the onus be on her to cover up, or is it a reasonable expectation that once asked to move on, and the photographer doesn't, that he is now exhibiting harassing behavior? Again, context is what this case will turn on. So, what was the intent of the drone flyer? Would a reasonable person assume he was just photographing the landscape and people in general, or would a jury find it interesting enough to question the motives? Does he have any prior history of sordid behavior? Like many beaches, were their changing areas in the restrooms that are open to the sky? Does the drone pilot even need to offer an explanation if asked why he is flying a drone with a camera down a beach? All good questions, and I am not taking up for the lady who assaulted him, but there is possibly much more to this than is posted by the drone pilot on Youtube. And lawful or not, it does seem to have the possibility of something sordid or perveted. Comments about her appearance have no bearing on the rightful discussion of right or wrong of the drone action. I am amazed at the lack of civility in society.

Though probably legal, flying anything over a crowded beach is imprudent. Lots of liability and a flurry of reactionary laws/ordinances that are annoying to us all if someone gets hurt. I would not do that. He got lucky this time. If he hadn't got video evidence of the situation, or if the crazy woman were the wife of a cop/judge/prosecutor, he would likely have to defend himself against a litany of fictional charges at great misery and expense. What expectation to privacy does one have in a public place, especially these days? None. He should be as smart about flying as he was about documentation and restraint. Crazy people are everywhere. I wonder if there was alcohol, etc. involved on the assailants part. Usually illegal on public beaches. Just a thought...

So if someone took a picture of your child on the beach and posted it online where disturbed people who like to look at bodies, specifically children, might see it, that would not be an issue to you. There are many reasons people react the way they do.