Woman ordered to pay compensation after downing neighbour's drone with well-aimed rock

It was the maiden voyage of a high-end drone, one that had a video camera mounted on it. But while it was in the air, a neighbour says she felt unsafe and took action to protect herself. “These things are like weed whackers coming at you; you don’t want to be anywhere near it,” says 65-year-old Martina Wlodsarski.



But, 46-year-old Mark Shock who owns the drone tells a different story. He and Wlodarski live next door on Main Street in Harwick, Pennsylvania. He says the two have been feuding for years, but what happened back in August was the final straw. “I was taking the drone out for a flight, flew for 17 minutes, started bringing it in, and the neighbour decided she didn’t like it and threw a rock at it and destroyed it,” said Shock.





Wlordarski says this. “I was out back reading a book and heard the noise. When it flew over me, I started down the walkway. When it turned and came at me, it scared me. I threw a rock,” she says. Shock says he was nowhere near Wlodarski and has the video to prove it. “She comes out of the back of the house, she stays in the yard until I am ready to land it, she comes from here, goes all the way down, hides behind the back of the van and throws the rock,” he says.


YouTube link.

Shock showed the video in court Tuesday and won his case. Wlodarski was ordered to pay $600 to get the $1,300 drone repaired. In exchange, the criminal mischief charges against her were dropped. Wlodarski says she has no regrets about knocking the three-and-a-half pound drone out of commission and has registered her house as a no fly zone, which anyone can do online. Wlodarski says if there is a next time, she will call the police.