A 34-year-old Eustis man has been sentenced to federal prison for shooting at a Lake County Sheriff's Office drone during a tense standoff at his rural property last year. The case stemmed from gunfire directed at the aircraft.
The federal sentence was announced in a post from the USAO Middle Florida
, which detailed the case and described why deputies deployed a drone before arresting Kress. The case involved a felony criminal mischief charge. Kress had warned deputies not to enter his home.
A Neighborhood Rampage Preceded the Standoff
The drone flight didn't happen in a vacuum. As reported by FOX 35 Orlando, deputies sent up the $25,000 drone after Kress allegedly went on a rampage through his neighborhood, ramming property fences with his Chevrolet Suburban and firing shots at dogs. Neighbors reported fence damage exceeding $10,000 before a SWAT team responded to the standoff, the station reported at the time.
After Kress's arrest, investigators continued examining the incident. The shooting became part of the federal case.
A Rarely Used Federal Charge
Federal law classifies drones as aircraft under FAA rules, meaning anyone who shoots one down can be charged under 18 U.S.C. § 32, the same statute covering destruction of a manned plane, which carries a potential prison term of up to 20 years, according to Forbes. Despite that classification, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association discusses state and local laws and gives a criminal-mischief example.
Kress's case was prosecuted in federal court. The case involved gunfire directed at public safety equipment.
Drones Have Become a Flashpoint in Lake County
The Lake County Sheriff's Office has used drone technology in specific operations, including a September 23, 2025, operation in which Real-Time Crime Center pilots remotely took control of an agency drone to locate a stranded person in the dense woods near Paisley, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Kress's case involved gunfire directed at a sheriff's office drone.
Kress's case isn't the county's first brush with drone-related friction. A Hoodline article cited a DroneDJ report on a 2024 Lake County case in which a resident faced criminal charges and had to pay restitution after shooting at a commercial test delivery drone, part of a broader pattern of community tension around airborne technology touching both public safety and commercial sectors in the region.
