He calls himself the “drone slayer” William Herbert Merideth of Hillview KY was arrested and charged with #1 CRIMINAL MISCHIEF, 1ST DEGREE and #2 WANTON ENDANGERMENT-1ST DEGREE.
Merideth could have got up to 10 years in prison for these charges. He appeared in court today and claimed the $1,800 Phantom 3 Professional Drone was trespassing and invading his privacy while it flew over his house at about 200 feet high in the air. The Judge dismissed the wanton endangerment and the criminal mischief charges against William Merideth.
William Herbert Merideth and his wife Janet Cheryl Merideth would prefer not to pay their attorney fees in this case. Therefore they have set up a GoFundMe account, they are asking for $10,000 of legal fees.
The description says..
Thank you to all that are supporting in anyway you can. This gofundme was set up because we were asked to do so by friends and family that wanted to help. You have all helped in so many ways. Just wanted to let you know how grateful we are for everything. We will continue to fight for our right to privacy.
The online collection has only collected $760 of the $10,000 so far. Some donations have negative comments.
The couple has been profiting from the pending charges by selling T-shirts on eBay that say “Team Willie #DRONESLAYER We The People Have had Enough.”
While some say the case shouldn’t have got dismissed, others are happy with the dismissal. Most have only seen the story on the news with the drone shooter telling his side of the story.
Below is the actual video from the drone. Tell us in the comments below what you think, does it look like this drone was spying on William to you?