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. ยง 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.
