K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
The firefighters were standing outside on a summer day when a drone — its blades whirling in a high-pitched whine — headed right for them, sending them scurrying, authorities said.
Then it came again.
“They had to dive out of the way to avoid being struck,” said Christopher Kavanaugh, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Some city police officers also were sent scrambling.
The harassment outside the Salem, Va., firehouse — located feet from a monument of steel beams retrieved from the wreckage of the World Trade Center’s North Tower — continued until the first responders retreated into the station. The drone then followed them into the garage, investigators with the U.S. Department of Transportation said.
As the popularity of drones has grown in recent years, so has their misuse. The proliferation of small aircraft involved in untoward actions has led federal investigators to try to rein in some of the most egregious behavior.
The Virginia case is among a handful of drone-related prosecutions that have led to recent convictions.
Ultimately, the drone smashed into a pole, and no one was injured. James Russell Weeks III, of Salem, pleaded guilty recently in connection with the July 2019 incident.
Under a broad provision in federal law, Weeks was charged with flying an unregistered aircraft, which covers drones that weigh more than 0.55 pounds. Prosecutors say that catchall charge and other similar provisions offer straightforward tools for dealing with a range of crimes using drones.
In June, a Georgia man who was jailed for armed robbery was sentenced to 12 months for allowing someone else to use, or try to use, his unregistered aircraft. Federal prosecutors said the man and his brother had plotted to smuggle cellphones and tobacco into Telfair State Prison, but his brother and an accomplice were stymied by sheriff’s deputies in nearby woods.
Continue reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/03/drones-flying-prosecutions/
Then it came again.
“They had to dive out of the way to avoid being struck,” said Christopher Kavanaugh, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Some city police officers also were sent scrambling.
The harassment outside the Salem, Va., firehouse — located feet from a monument of steel beams retrieved from the wreckage of the World Trade Center’s North Tower — continued until the first responders retreated into the station. The drone then followed them into the garage, investigators with the U.S. Department of Transportation said.
As the popularity of drones has grown in recent years, so has their misuse. The proliferation of small aircraft involved in untoward actions has led federal investigators to try to rein in some of the most egregious behavior.
The Virginia case is among a handful of drone-related prosecutions that have led to recent convictions.
Ultimately, the drone smashed into a pole, and no one was injured. James Russell Weeks III, of Salem, pleaded guilty recently in connection with the July 2019 incident.
Under a broad provision in federal law, Weeks was charged with flying an unregistered aircraft, which covers drones that weigh more than 0.55 pounds. Prosecutors say that catchall charge and other similar provisions offer straightforward tools for dealing with a range of crimes using drones.
In June, a Georgia man who was jailed for armed robbery was sentenced to 12 months for allowing someone else to use, or try to use, his unregistered aircraft. Federal prosecutors said the man and his brother had plotted to smuggle cellphones and tobacco into Telfair State Prison, but his brother and an accomplice were stymied by sheriff’s deputies in nearby woods.
Continue reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/03/drones-flying-prosecutions/
