Dennis Winn, 72, heard a drone hovering outside his home in Clermont, Florida. Winn said he tried to "shoo off" the drone but no luck. So he grabbed his Glock, aimed, and fired.
Turns out, it was a Walmart delivery drone doing "mock deliveries… to attract business and interest," according to a police report.
"Now they say I hit it, so I must be a good shot, Winn later said.
While he may have good aim, the drone still managed to fly back to a nearby Walmart Supercenter.
From the Smoking Gun:
Dennis Winn will enter a pretrial intervention program offered by prosecutors that, upon successful completion, will result in the dropping of criminal charges. The PTI program, which is similar to probation, can last a year and is offered to defendants with no significant criminal history.
Winn was charged in a criminal information with discharging a firearm in public, a misdemeanor, and criminal mischief, a third degree felony since damage to the drone's payload system exceeded $1000[….]
Claiming that he was unaware the drone was part of the Walmart fleet, Winn explained that he had "past experiences with drones flying over his house and believed they were surveilling him." He did not further explain why he thought his home on a quiet cul-de-sac–purchased for about $500,000 in 2007–was the target of prior aerial monitoring[…]
While Winn, cops say, acknowledged the "reckless nature of his actions," he made an odd comment while officers gently handcuffed him in front.
"I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe," Winn said laughing, most likely making a horrible joke about the tragic 2020 murder of George Floyd by police.
