Teen taking video with drone says woman assaulted him

[Deleted]

Teen taking video with drone says woman assaulted him
June 11, 2014, 9:00 AM



MADISON, Conn. - A Westbrook, Conn. woman faces assault charges after confronting a teenager who was using a drone to film above a beach.

Andrea Mears, 24, was charged with third-degree assault and breach of peace after an investigation into the May 12 encounter.

A video posted on the website Photography is Not a Crime shows the woman calling 17-year-old Austin Haughwout a pervert, striking him and ripping his shirt.

"You're assaulting me," Haughwout says in the video, according to CBS Connecticut.

Haughwout, of nearby Clinton, told reporters he had been using a remote-controlled drone to get footage of the landscape from about 50 feet above the beach when he was confronted by Mears.

"When she first came up I thought it was just someone calling the cops and I didn't think she would attack me," Haughwout said.

Mears could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. She told television reporters that Haughwout struck her first and edited that out of the Internet video, which was recorded on his cellphone.

Mears can be seen in the video calling police and demanding that Haughwout stop using the drone. The teen can be seen moving some of the equipment before the camera starts shaking and he begins yelling that he is being assaulted.

"Maybe you shouldn't be taking pictures of people on the beach," Mears says in the video.

She is then seen ripping Haughwout's shirt and grabbing at his face, reports the station.

The teen told the New Haven Register that he's been flying remote-controlled aircraft since the age of 9 and has been using the drone since September.

He said he usually gets a positive response from people who are interested in the technology.

Mears is due in New Haven Superior Court on June 19.



WEBPAGE LINK - CBS News

[Deleted]

I think it's silly and stupid to expect privacy on a PUBLIC beach.

BUT... drone use is an interesting twist on expectations. Is it really any different than a person walking up and down the beach with his camcorder rolling?

Thoughts?

[Tennesseer]

My guess is the two of them were at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison (I used to live in New Haven, Ct). The beach is something like two miles long.    Surely the two of them could have found their own section of the beach with that much shoreline available.

No different than a camcorder but the expectations of the two may be different.  With a camcorder you pretty much see and know you may be filmed.  With a drone, it could be thought of as just a remote controlled model plane flying in the sky.  Something about being spied on from above the sky creeps most people out.

[marvholly]

A LOT of laws and/or personal expectations need adjusting in our brave, new world. AND w/all the changes in technology it is going to be next to impossible to keep up.

[Opti]

Jun 17, 2014 22:16:15 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

I think it's silly and stupid to expect privacy on a PUBLIC beach.

BUT... drone use is an interesting twist on expectations. Is it really any different than a person walking up and down the beach with his camcorder rolling?

Thoughts?

Yes its different. For one, if they are there in person with a camcorder you

probably know if they are filming your chest, crotch, or just scenery.

With a drone you probably wouldn't.

Just because I'm on a public beach shouldn't mean I have to put up with

flyovers or perhaps someone making videos from remotes of 'bathing suit

nos' or some such subject matter. JMO.

[greeniis10]

Is it really any different than being at a public swimming pool, or lake, etc. where everyone still has a cell phone in hand (not everyone, of course, but those on the shore or just laying out in the sun by the pool) and could be filming or taking pictures of anyone at anytime? 

I regularly sit by the pool at my gym and there's no way I would know if someone was filming or taking pictures.  Maybe a circling drone overhead makes it more obvious, but it doesn't seem that like big of a deal to me.

If pictures and/or video are posted that I wasn't aware of, yes, I'd be concerned.

[djAdvocate]

drones suck.

[jkapp]

IMO It depends on how good the camera is

If the camera attached to the plane is just a simple camcorder-type, then this woman has nothing to worry about. If its a super spy-style ultra zoom HD thingamajig, then the guy will have some explaining to do

[b2r]

[Deleted]

I think he showed TREMENDOUS restraint during her assault of him.