I was working in my garden in the back about 30 minutes ago and a DRONE came by over the side of my house.

I know the guy across the street is selling his house so I suppose it was the Realtor who was taking arial pictures of HIS home but when the DRONE saw me, it came closer down to me and scared the living daylights out of me. 

If I had a shotgun, I would've shot it out of the sky. it went back across the street after I held my hand up in a stop position.

I confronted The person who was in the home across the street and asked if they were taking pictures and that I was not pleased that they were taking pictures of my house as I did not give permission. 

His name was Joe (the hired help) and said he wasn't operating the DRONE but his realtor was - which I don't believe for a second. Joe seemed very slimy.  there was no other person in the house at the time.

anyway, I notified the homeowner by text and complained to him and he said his Realtor wants to talk to me -which I will do after my eye surgery has been deemed a success -probably a week from now.

when you get a chance, can you let me know what the rules are on DRONE permits in this area? I know operators have to have one because we are so close to the airport.

According to Henderson police drones are not permitted to hover over someone’s personal property.  This evening at approximately 6 pm a drone hovered over our home in Sun City Anthem. We called the police as it was an invasion of privacy.  The police officer that came to our home told us he knew you and that he would speak to you about this.  Find my name to it Please alert your group that they can fly the drones but they are not permitted to hover.  If this happens again, we will press charges.

Esther Whiteaker

Sent from my iPhone

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Esther,

Thank you for contacting me.

As you know, Sun City Anthem is a large community with over 7100

homes.  Could you tell me your address so that I have a better

understanding of where the drone was flying?

How long did it hover over your house?  Did you see which direction it

came from or which direction it went when it left your property?

Did it circle over your house, or your neighbor's house?

We now have 20 people in the Drone Pilots of Sun City Anthem Special

Interest Group (SIG), and one of our members is a Henderson Police

officer and is in the Drones as First Responder program with Henderson

PD.  Can you give me the name of the Henderson Police officer who came

to your home?  He has not contacted me yet, but I will call my

contacts tomorrow.

As always, if you have any drone related concerns, don't hesitate to

call, text, or email me.

Don Hill

(714) 345-1114 (Voice or text)

donhill@gmail.com

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Hi Don,

I was the Officer who got this call, and I’ll try here to clarify some things.

The caller initially believed that drones simply weren’t allowed to be in the neighborhood. I don’t know what they may or may not have been told prior to my arrival, and they’re lovely people. 

I believed I had helped them to learn that in their neighborhood there were no additional restrictions, and that as long as other laws were followed, drones were certainly allowed. I let them know that SCA has a dedicated group of educated drone pilots, and that many areas have no restrictions.

They were concerned about flight paths in and out of the airport, and about their own privacy.

In speaking with the original complainant, I was initially under the impression that the drone had hovered for several minutes, directly over the people calling. That, of course, had the potential to have been a cause for some concern.

They later clarified that the drone they spotted was hovering over a nearby light pole, not directly over them or other people, or moving vehicles. We had a nice conversation, and I left their door.

Out of curiosity, I checked the group’s map you sent, and found a nearby pilot from the group, and stopped by. He and I spoke on friendly terms, and I let him know a neighbor had complained, but that I recognized it did not appear that any improper actions had taken place, and that I thought I had educated that neighbor appropriately to not worry.

I had expected I’d send you an email in the morning to thank you for the map, but I’m returning home now and saw this email.

The good news is that nothing inappropriate took place by any member, and I believe I managed to make a good contact with that pilot. The concerning news is that my initial meeting with the callers seems to have gone a bit awry, if they came away believing there was some criminal action happening in the area.

If you think I can be helpful further, let me know. The saving grace for this particular call is that the couple who called to complain is moving from the area and won’t have cause to follow up.

Thank you,

Peter Steeves

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Thank you for responding to my email. We live at 2320 Anderson Park Drive (corner of Anderson Park and Aztec Ruin).  My husband said it came up Aztec Ruin and hovered approximately 5 minutes and then went away and then came back and hovered another 5 minutes.  The other two people in the driveway also saw the drone and saw it hovering over the street light by our house.  After that the drone shot back down Aztec Ruin. 

Unfortunately I don’t remember the officer’s name but he said he knew ‘Don’ who ran the drone club in Sun City.

How many times has someone done this that we don’t know about? 

This is an invasion of privacy and we don’t appreciate it. 

Esther Whiteaker

Sent from my iPhone