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A terrified woman took to the internet to ask what to do after her neighbour demanded $900 from her, but he ended up being forced to pay her $2000.
The woman first took to Reddit’s Legal Advice forum after explaining that her neighbour had a habit of flying his drone low around her home to tease her pet husky and the dog had managed to catch it.
She wrote: “Earlier today my neighbour came pounding on my door screaming obscenities and shouting at me. When I finally got him to stop yelling I found out that he was flying his drone in my backyard again and this time my dog finally managed to destroy it.
“He claims this was a $900 drone and I had to pay him right then and there. I refused and closed the door in his face. A couple of hours later the police showed up to retrieve the drone; it was still in my yard, but my dog completely ignored it once it stopped buzzing.”
According to the woman, the neighbour told the police that the woman had refused access to her garden to retrieve the drone but she said that was not true at all as the neighbour had never asked.
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The woman also added that her neighbour “had a history” of flying his drone low over her yard to upset her dog and has complained to the police in the past after her neighbour almost hit her dog with the drone.
She wrote: “I have asked him to stop several times, which he always refuses telling me that I don’t own the air above my yard… the police didn’t say he couldn’t fly it in my yard but did ask him to stop doing so in order to avoid conflict. That only seemed to egg him on.”
A few weeks later, the woman posted an update that her neighbour decided to take her to small claims court over the drone, and had to consult with a lawyer who seemed delighted by the case.
She explained: “My mother-in-law is a paralegal secretary, so I was able to get a free consultation with a lawyer where she works to ask some questions about what to bring and how to prepare.
“He seemed genuinely amused that my neighbour was even trying to sue. He also suggested I counter-sue and how I could possibly add in more damages.”
The lawyer pointed out that the woman lived within five miles of an airport and that the neighbour was not only breaking the law but may not have the drone registered to fly them.
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The woman phoned a hotline for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and spoke to them about her neighbour’s drone hobby, and was told they were now investigating the matter.
On the day of the court case, the woman explained that her neighbour was causing her dog anxiety and was provoked, and also added that the dog could have potentially died if he had been hit by the drone.
She said: “I brought both police reports to court, as well as several photos of my backyard, photos of our shared high privacy fence, medical bills for my dog, and a few short videos I had of him doing flybys over my dog in the past.
“His main argument to the judge was that I ‘maliciously installed a table to allow my dog to jump high enough to catch his drone, which I (somehow) trained him to do’.
“Which, yes I had recently bought a new picnic table, but only so I have somewhere to sit and eat outside”.
In the end, the woman won after countersuing the neighbour and he was forced to pay the woman $2,000 to cover the vet bills for X-rays, dental exams, sedation, and meditation since the woman took her dog to the vet after the ordeal.
She said: “He is also banned from flying over my property, and I installed trail cams in front and back yards just in case. He seems pretty upset with me, so I wanted to be careful.“
“The only thing that could make this better is if the FAA finds a reason to fine him or take away his drones.”
In the comment section, people were delighted for the woman and congratulated her, but many popular comments were very critical of the neighbor.
The top comment said: “Some people never advance past the middle school bully stage of life. I hope the FAA finds that he’s breaking some laws and he also faces consequences from them.”
Another person wrote: “Neighbor’s a dumba** he clearly filed a claim without any research at all.”
Someone else commented: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Very satisfying story.”