A Seattle woman caught two men piloting a drone outside her downtown apartment building early Sunday morning in a possible attempt to peep at her, Reuters reported. Police are searching for the unidentified suspects.
Lisa Pleiss, who lives on the 26th floor, was in her complex near the intersection of Terry Avenue and Stewart Street when she spotted the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hovering outside her window around 7:45 a.m., police said in a statement Tuesday. Appearing to be aimed at her window, the drone seemed to be loaded with video equipment.
"It was actually quite large. It appeared that there were video cameras on it," she said. "So that's what kind of caused me alarm because I wasn't particularly dressed for a camera, by any means. I wasn't appropriate, and so that was nerve-wracking immediately."
Concerned that the device might be spying on her movements, she immediately contacted her front desk concierge, who in turn called police and went outside to investigate. He spotted two men piloting the drone, with a tripod and a video camera lying beside them on the ground. Soon after, they packed up their gear and drove away, police said.
"It's not known if there was actually even a camera on this UAV or if it was even pointed inside" the apartment, said police spokesman Drew Fowler. "The behavior is certainly concerning and ill-mannered at best, and illegal at worst."
This is the first time Seattle police have investigated a case of a drone possibly being used to peep on a person at their residence, Fowler said. Since not much could be verified about the drone-flying suspects, police are investigating whether any surveillance cameras in the area captured the incident.
However disconcerting, it hasn't been clear whether the men were actively breaking the law by flying the drone near the woman's apartment. "There really aren't any specific laws to the UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] other than not being dangerous," Fowler explained. "This is a new issue and I'm sure our lawmakers will provide guidance soon."
It was confirmed by SPD that the drone was not owned by the police.
