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Judi Lynn

(160,076 posts)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 05:05 PM Jun 2014

Woman getting dressed in 26th floor apartment terrified by peeping drone

Source: KIRO-TV

Updated: 7:21 a.m. Tuesday, June 24, 2014 | Posted: 7:21 a.m. Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Woman getting dressed in 26th floor apartment terrified by peeping drone

By Linzi Sheldon

KIRO-TV - Seattle
SEATTLE —
A high-tech Peeping Tom terrified a Seattle woman getting dressed in her apartment.

Lisa Pleiss spotted the drone just before 8 a.m. Sunday and reported it to her concierge, who called Seattle police.

“It was freaky,” she said. “You don't expect to be walking around indecent in your apartment and have this thing out there potentially recording you.”

When Pleiss grabbed her camera to a take a picture, she said the drone seemed to react.

“It, like, swooped out of frame immediately, really quickly,” she said, “which made me think they were looking at me because they were reacting to my actions.”

Pleiss lives on the 26th floor of her building, which is in downtown Seattle at the corner of Terry Avenue and Stewart Street. She she’s never had to worry about someone looking through window before. She called down to her concierge, who spotted two men operating the drone.

Read more: http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/national/woman-terrified-drone-outside-her-window/ngRWN/

41 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Woman getting dressed in 26th floor apartment terrified by peeping drone (Original Post) Judi Lynn Jun 2014 OP
Keep those curtains closed after dark....nt PasadenaTrudy Jun 2014 #1
She said it was just after 8am, but yeah...that's about all you can do. :O (whoops, BEFORE 8am) C Moon Jun 2014 #3
She had never expected spectators as she lived on the 26th floor. No one around outside. n/t Judi Lynn Jun 2014 #4
I would keep a paint ball gun handy Kelvin Mace Jun 2014 #2
I'd go for something a little more high-powered Demeter Jun 2014 #6
Illegally firing a gun within city limits would land you in jail. ManiacJoe Jun 2014 #40
That's the first thing I thought of, too. Warpy Jun 2014 #8
Even a small water balloon from 26 stories dixiegrrrrl Jun 2014 #11
Yeah, I'm not much of a gunner as I don't even own one, but it sounds like trap shooting time. Ed Suspicious Jun 2014 #17
A sling shot would be a good alternative davidpdx Jun 2014 #33
Spray it with water? grahamhgreen Jun 2014 #37
Yeah, but you need some seriously high water pressure to Kelvin Mace Jun 2014 #38
Well - no one could have guessed enlightenment Jun 2014 #5
If I ever see one of those things over my property ... Auggie Jun 2014 #7
I'm with you, Auggie. lululu Jun 2014 #12
You're certainly not alone... C Moon Jun 2014 #16
Keep in mind that your property rights don't extend to the sky. Xithras Jun 2014 #23
Viewing inside your apartment or house is violating your property rights. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #27
If they're level with your windows, they're clearly trespassing. Xithras Jun 2014 #30
I can't see it as criminal to look into a house from the street while walking by. NutmegYankee Jun 2014 #35
It's not. Just looking while walking by isn't an invasion of privacy. Xithras Jun 2014 #39
This message was self-deleted by its author bowens43 Jun 2014 #36
Next scenario... Helen Borg Jun 2014 #9
A worse next scenario... DemoTex Jun 2014 #18
400 drone crashes already WHEN CRABS ROAR Jun 2014 #29
Especially, if the drone Helen Borg Jun 2014 #34
They practically published her address. Bette Noir Jun 2014 #10
If they'd practically publiished mine after something like that happened I Louisiana1976 Jun 2014 #14
I bought blackout drapes BumRushDaShow Jun 2014 #13
A person new to our neighborhood was flying his drone when he was told by a couple of us Playinghardball Jun 2014 #15
oh look. Blue Thunder PatrynXX Jun 2014 #19
I don't understand why these things are legal. n/t freeplessinseattle Jun 2014 #20
Nasty oldandhappy Jun 2014 #21
Here's what the drone looks like. Lionel Mandrake Jun 2014 #22
Either they used a stock photo, or someone ordered some wine. Xithras Jun 2014 #24
The future is here ECHOFIELDS Jun 2014 #25
Google Earth 2.0 (n/t) thesquanderer Jun 2014 #26
"Pull!" n/t jtuck004 Jun 2014 #28
And before drones... VScott Jun 2014 #31
Apparently it was looking the other direction ahimsa Jun 2014 #32
Sounds a lot easier than christx30 Jun 2014 #41

Warpy

(110,744 posts)
8. That's the first thing I thought of, too.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 05:27 PM
Jun 2014

Also water balloons if the operators were in range on the street.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
11. Even a small water balloon from 26 stories
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:28 PM
Jun 2014

would be lethal if it hit someone.

I thought Seattle had declared itself drone free

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
33. A sling shot would be a good alternative
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:38 PM
Jun 2014

Though what ever is used and/or the drone would fall a long way which would be pretty dangerous.

enlightenment

(8,830 posts)
5. Well - no one could have guessed
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 05:18 PM
Jun 2014

this kind of thing would happen. Just like no one could have guessed that if you give people a small, easy to use camera, some of them will use it for up-skirting . . .

Auggie

(31,025 posts)
7. If I ever see one of those things over my property ...
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 05:26 PM
Jun 2014

I'll do everything in my power to bring it down and smash it into a thousand pieces.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
23. Keep in mind that your property rights don't extend to the sky.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 07:31 PM
Jun 2014

One Supreme Court ruling declared that airspace is the public domain, and another put the upper limit of your property rights at whatever level the air ceases to be used and occupied by your ownership of the land. If someone is buzzing your house below your treeline, they're trespassing and you can deal with it however you like. If the tallest thing on your property is the 15 foot high peak of your house and a drone owner flies over at 100 feet (and there are court rulings placing the lowest levels of public airspace at only 80 feet), then shooting one down would not only be a federal felony, but will probably get you successfully sued by the drone owner.

Uncle Joe

(58,029 posts)
27. Viewing inside your apartment or house is violating your property rights.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 07:57 PM
Jun 2014

Living inside your home is one thing, standing in your yard, where anyone could see you is another.

Airspace may be in the pubic domain but viewing inside a person (s) home is not airspace, that's an invasion of someone's privacy.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
30. If they're level with your windows, they're clearly trespassing.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:50 PM
Jun 2014

At a bare minimum, the highest point on your property is the lowest point that a drone can legally fly. If they're flying around your yard and peeking into your windows, it's paintball time!

Generally speaking, the laws covering drone window peeks are the same laws that regulate looking through your neighbors window with a telescope. It's typically considered to be a criminal invasion of privacy to peer in through someones door or windows, whether or not a drone is involved.

NutmegYankee

(16,169 posts)
35. I can't see it as criminal to look into a house from the street while walking by.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:36 AM
Jun 2014

I go for walks at night and many homes have front windows unblocked or doors open and one can easily see inside. I myself usually have the front door open this time of year. It helps with airflow since so few have AC.

I just make it an obvious note to myself to not walk naked through my living room if the blinds are up.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
39. It's not. Just looking while walking by isn't an invasion of privacy.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 10:31 AM
Jun 2014

I can't speak to all states, but here in California our criminal invasion of privacy law requires one of three things in order to escalate a benign "glance through the window" into a criminal activity: 1) Trespassing onto the victims property (you can't walk up to their house and look in the windows). 2) The use of a telescope, binoculars, or some other device to view something that wouldn't normally be visible to the unaided eye. 3) The use of video recording equipment when full or partial nudity is involved.

The use of a drone to peek in someones window would, at a minimum, qualify as #2, but could easily qualify as all three. I would presume that most states have similar statutes on the books.

Response to Uncle Joe (Reply #27)

DemoTex

(25,334 posts)
18. A worse next scenario...
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 07:10 PM
Jun 2014

A little bitty drone collides with a jumbo jet, with high body count. The TV screams "WHY!? HOW!?"

Helen Borg

(3,963 posts)
34. Especially, if the drone
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 03:02 AM
Jun 2014

Was also equipped with some explosives. No idea if it can be done in practice, given weight consstraints and all, but I suspect that somebody who wants to do it will be able to find a way.

BumRushDaShow

(126,616 posts)
13. I bought blackout drapes
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:49 PM
Jun 2014

because of the hovering helicopters, notably not long after some contract helicopter (am thinking google or equivalent) was in the area doing street mapping updates.

 

Playinghardball

(11,665 posts)
15. A person new to our neighborhood was flying his drone when he was told by a couple of us
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:59 PM
Jun 2014

that the next time it entered 'our' airspace it would be meant with buckshot.. We've never seen or heard it again...

LMAO...

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
24. Either they used a stock photo, or someone ordered some wine.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 07:42 PM
Jun 2014

That's a bottle delivery drone. There are a couple of hotels in Vegas and the SF Bay Area that are using them to deliver wine and other bottled drinks to customers. You can actually see two bottles in the undercarriage of the drone, and it's identical to the one that the hotel in Sausalito (Calif) uses.

Either someone in Seattle is getting into the bottle delivery business, or the reporters pulled a stock or Internet photo to use for the story.

christx30

(6,241 posts)
41. Sounds a lot easier than
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 04:46 PM
Jun 2014

climbing a tree and using binoculars. Plus there is no risk of falling out the tree, having my son from 30 years in the future get hit by a car and nearly negate his existence. I hate it when that happens.

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