I am not the original poster. This is a repost.

The original poster is u/dronethrowawaylalala. Originally posted 6 years ago on r/legaladvice.

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Can I be sued for knocking down a drone flying in my yard and then erasing its memory card? [April 06 2016]

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/4dnwaq/san_diego_can_i_be_sued_for_knocking_down_a_drone/

This occurred in San Diego. Someone has been flying a drone around the neighborhood for the last few weeks. No one knew who it was, but it has been taking video of people as it has a camera mounted below it. It has caught my daughter and her friends in the pool in our backyard multiple times. Yesterday, I saw it and grabbed our powerwasher and my son and I managed to knock it to the ground using it and the garden hose and our lawn furniture cushions. It got a bit damaged so I took it inside to see if I could find the owner. I saw the multiple videos on the memory card including multiple ones of my daughter and her friends in their swim suits and ones of other neighbors as well and erased it. My son is very good with computers and he did a permanent wipe of the data.

About that time, one of my across-the-street neighbors came over and demanded his drone back. I refused at first until he could prove it was his. He threatened to call the police and I agreed and did it right then and there. Eventually a cop came and after talking to both of us, told me to give the drone back, which I did. He got angry that it was damaged, but the cop said it was a civil matter and that he could sue.

About an hour later he came back threatening to sue me because the memory card was erased and that I destroyed the "propeller foil" or something when I "illegally" brought down his drone, and that I am liable for damages for erasing his memory card. He said he couldn't recover anything and that he was going to sue me for "thousands." I laughed openly at him and told him to get off my property or I would call the police again. He left yelling.

But, am I really in danger of being sued and losing for knocking the drone down when it was flying about just over our backyard and erasing the videos he had taken from inside our's and others' backyards? That seems way more illegal to videotape us from within our own yard without our permission. Sorry if this is too long, but I'm not sure what to include.

Relevant Comments:

• Comments were very mixed, especially on the legality/how much of a good idea it was to delete the memory card, given that it was evidence that the guy was spying on people. Posters cite already-established case law about how low drones can fly over property legally, laws enacted to restrict drone usage, as well as FAA rules on that. Privacy laws are also mentioned.
• Comments tell OOP that he could be sued for destroying contents of memory card, ask why police haven't been called. OOP: We did call the police, as did our neighbors. They never came and basically laughed it off on the phone...It was flying in our backyard. Inside our privacy fence, just a few feet off the ground taking video. How is that different than a person walking into our private backyard to do the same? I'm not trying to argue, I'm just trying to understand. We called and our neighbors have been calling for weeks. Not one officer responded until he called with the report that I had his drone. I just don't understand that at all.

UPDATE (San Diego) Can I be sued for knocking down a drone flying in my yard and then erasing its memory card? [April 19 2016]

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/4fj2ln/update_san_diego_can_i_be_sued_for_knocking_down/

I know this sub likes updates, so here is mine. It doesn't have a lot of legal stuff though. I hope that is okay.

There was a lot of behind the scenes activity. One of my neighbors contacted the HOA Secretary to get the contact information of the member from that house since she was pretty sure that the guy was not the legal owner. The owners are his step-grandparents and basically don't live there 11 months out of the year (they are RV'ers and drive around visiting places and their kids and grandkids) and they let their step-grandson (daughter's stepson) live there for free.

I called them and they were very sweet people and absolutely shocked at what he was doing. I told them what he was doing with his drone and what happened in my yard and what was on the videos from the memory card. I also told them that he was doing the same thing for a few of the other neighbors and gave them the names that I knew of. The next day, they called me back and sincerely apologized for what he was doing and assured me that he would never be doing that again and that they were no longer allowing him to live there. Evidently, they don't know him terribly well, nor do they really like him, but they were doing this as a favor to their daughter.

I saw him moving stuff into a U-haul truck this weekend. As I walked by, he said that he was going to sue me for thousands of dollars because of the damage to his drone and then started cursing at me loudly. I had privately decided to pay for his drone damage when approached, but I think now I will make him sue me in court and make him admit to the judge that he was taking peeping tom videos with his drone. I suspect he will not sue me. If he does, I will get the attorney we used before when we were sued for a "slip and fall" on our driveway to defend me.

Relevant Comments:

• From a commenter: As of late February 2016 all drone operators had to be federally certified (really just an online application and an ID number). The ID number has to be printed on the drone. It may be a way to get him into trouble, if he didn't/doesn't have the certification and ID number on the drone, because then he has, I believe, broken a federal law.
• Another commenter: Regulations are here: https://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/ First paragraph states "Anyone who owns a small unmanned aircraft that weighs more than 0.55 lbs. (250g) and less than 55 lbs. (25kg) must register with the Federal Aviation Administration's UAS registry before they fly outdoors. People who do not register could face civil and criminal penalties."

Reminder: I am not the original poster. This is a repost.

The original poster is u/dronethrowawaylalala. Originally posted 6 years ago on r/legaladvice.