A 72-year-old Florida retiree has reached a plea agreement after using a handgun to shoot a drone out of the sky because he believed it was "surveilling" him, according to police.
Dennis Winn, a former New Jersey fire captain, admitted to firing his 9mm Sig Sauer pistol at the DroneUp device in late June, The Smoking Gun reported. The drone was conducting mock package deliveries for Walmart when it was struck by a single bullet.
The charges against Winn include discharging a firearm in public, a misdemeanor, and criminal mischief, a third-degree felony due to the extent of damages to the drone's payload system. Winn has been ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution for the damaged drone.
Winn told police he was "working on his pool equipment" when he heard the drone's whirring noise. After his attempts to "shoo off" the drone failed, Winn retrieved his gun from a safe and fired.
"Now they say I hit it, so I must be a good shot," Winn reportedly said in a bodycam-recorded confession. "How much trouble am I in?"
Officers say Winn acknowledged the "reckless nature" of shooting at the drone, but cited "past experiences with drones flying over his house" that led him to believe the drones were there to surveil him. Winn did not elaborate on why he believed his property was a target for surveillance.
The plea deal stipulates that if he completes a pretrial intervention program, the charges against him will be dropped.
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