Lake County man accused of shooting a Walmart delivery drone

CLERMONT — It’s not clear if he shot the store's smiley-face logo between the eyes, but a Clermont man has been arrested and accused of downing a Walmart delivery drone.

“The defendant stated that he had past experiences with drones flying over his house and believed they were surveilling him,” the arrest affidavit states.

The trouble started when two representatives of a company called DroneUp were doing a demonstration for the Walmart at 1450 Johns Lake Road on June 26.

The men told Lake sheriff’s deputies that they heard a loud bang as the drone descended to 75 feet. One of the pilots saw what he described as a 60-year-old man wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt in the 11000 block of Lemay Drive pointing a handgun in the air.

The crew raced back to Walmart, where they recovered the drone with what they figured was a $2,500 bullet hole.

When deputies went to the home in the Overlook at Lake Louisa neighborhood, they confronted Dennis L. Winn, 72.

He admitted shooting the device, and when he was told it was a Walmart drone, he said, “Really?”

Deputies told him he might have caused $10,000 worth of damage. Winn said if he had to pay that, he wanted to keep it as his personal property, the affidavit says.

While talking to deputies he shouted to a neighbor that he was being arrested for shooting a drone.

He conceded that it had been a reckless thing to do, according to the affidavit.

As they left the house, deputies noticed small children playing in the cul-de-sac.

Winn was charged with shooting or throwing a deadly missile into a vehicle, criminal mischief, and discharging a firearm in a residential area.