Man faces charges after allegedly shooting at deputy’s drone

By Michelle Meredith

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    LAKE COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — Lake County deputies arrest a man in Eustis after he allegedly shot at a deputy’s drone and damaged a neighbor’s fence with his SUV.

In his Eustis neighborhood, everyone knows Justin Kress, and now, so does the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

According to sheriff’s deputies, Kress recently went on a one-man rampage, first allegedly mowing down his neighbor’s fence with his SUV.

The arrest report says, “Kress intentionally drove through his fence, backing up and running into the opposite side of his fence to cause complete destruction.”

Kress is also being investigated for allegedly shooting at another neighbor’s dog.

So, Lake County sheriff’s deputies went to arrest Kress, but they got a warning.

“What made this so tricky is that members of the community said he had made comments about how he would die by suicide by cop,” said John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies raised concerns over Kress’ comments and decided to use a drone before arresting him instead of taking a direct approach.

Although the drone was damaged beyond repair, deputies were able to land it and then sent the Special Weapons and Tactics team in to arrest him.

Kress faces two charges: criminal mischief for the fence and shooting a deadly missile into an aircraft.

The sheriff’s office noted that the last person to shoot one of its drones received prison time.

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