A Florida man was arrested this week for allegedly shooting down a Walmart delivery drone over his neighborhood, the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Thursday, June 27.
Deputies responded to the Walmart store at 1450 Johns Lake Road in Clermont on Wednesday after representatives of the drone delivery company operating Walmart's delivery drones reported the shooting. Although the company was not named by authorities, Walmart is currently partnered with DroneUp to conduct deliveries in select cities including nearby Orlando.
Two company representatives were in the Clermont neighborhood to campaign and receive a mock delivery to drum up interest in the service when they saw a man shoot at the descending drone.
The crew returned to Walmart and directed the drone to fly back to the store. There, they saw the payload system had been struck by a bullet, reportedly resulting in $2,500 in damages. After calling law enforcement, they directed deputies to the location of the incident.
The sheriff's office said deputies made contact with the suspect, 72-year-old Dennis Winn, at his home, and he "admitted to shooting at the drone once with a 9mm pistol."
Winn was arrested and charged with shooting at an aircraft, criminal mischief damage over $1,000, and discharging a firearm in public or on residential property.
—TMX contributed to this report.
