Jefferson County Sheriff's Log | Surprise ending in drone dispute

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The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received 267 calls for service between Saturday, July 16 and Friday, July 22. Below are selected reports.

At 11:36 a.m. Tuesday, July 19 in Chimacum, a resident said someone was yelling at her and she was being harassed. She said the aggressor was somewhere on the property.

A deputy responded and found no crime had taken place.

The woman was advised to get a restraining order to prevent any future disputes.

At 1:14 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 in Quilcene, a caller said the landlord came to the property and confronted the caller’s girlfriend.

The landlord grabbed her by the throat during an argument over an issue with the rental property.

A deputy met with the caller and the victim in parking lot. The woman did not want to file charges, but wanted the incident documented in case things can’t be resolved.

A scratch on the woman’s ear was photographed.

At 5:39 p.m. Thursday, July 20 in Quilcene, a caller said an apartment had been burglarized.

The caller thought the 17-year-old son of the former resident did it.

The caller said someone was also driving by “playing clown music” and calling out the name of his wife.

At 9:05 a.m. Thursday, July 21 in Port Hadlock, a caller said a man with a drone was harassing people at the park by flying over their heads and following them with the drone.

The drone pilot started yelling at the caller for committing a federal crime by throwing rocks at the drone.

The drone owner could be heard yelling at another woman on the beach.

The drone pilot was asking the woman if the caller was going to shoot the drone down with a gun.

The caller said he did not have a firearm.

A drone operator from the sheriff’s office responded and advised the drone pilot how to behave in public.

A deputy determined no crime had been committed, but instead, it was a breakdown in communication about the legality of flying a drone close to people who were walking their dogs on the beach.

The drone pilot said he was merely filming his wife and dogs with his drone, and then only flew the drone close to the caller so he could record his identity in case the man knocked the drone out of the sky and the situation escalated.

Deputies spoke with an older man who was walking his dog. He admitted to throwing rocks and a stick at the drone.

Both the drone pilot and the man who complained were able to reach a better understanding after deputies talked with them; they ended up shaking hands and apologizing to each other.

Both men said they could have handled it differently and both admitted fault to making the situation worse.