Wed, Aug 12, 2015
Says Video Shows Flight Path
The owner of a UAV that was shot down by a neighbor who claimed it had been spying on his sunbathing daughter has released a video of the flight.
Television station WDRB reports that UAV owner David Boggs says that the video proves he was not flying low the home of William Merideth. Boggs says tracking data captured by his iPad, proves that the aircraft was at 272 feet in altitude when it was blasted out of the sky. "We didn't hover over their house and we didn't descend down to no 10 feet, or look under someone's canopy, or at somebody's daughter," Boggs said.
Merideth said the aircraft was hovering over his house "long enough to get three shots off," but he says he does not know how long that was. Boggs says it was no more than a few seconds. The shots damaged one of the rotors of the aircraft, which caused it to go down.
The actual video captured by the UAV during the flight, which Boggs said was intended to show a friend who was out of town an aerial view of his house, is missing. When the aircraft was recovered after it crashed, the card that captures the video was not in its slot, possibly dislodged by the impact.
Merideth's story went worldwide after he admitted shooting down the UAV, claiming that it had been flying low over his house and had taken video of his daughter in the back yard. Boggs' video would seem to dispute that claim, but Merideth is standing by his story.
Kentucky has no laws preventing the flight of UAVs over private property, but analysts say the outcome of the case may become the basis for such a law in the state.
Meridith is facing charges of wanton endangerment and criminal mischief for shooting down the aircraft. He is due back in court next month.
(Representative UAV pictured in file photo)
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