The 20-year-old man who told Space Needle security that he had crashed his drone on the roof, while the 2016 New Year’s Eve fireworks display was being set up, is due in Seattle Municipal Court on Nov. 22 to answer to the charge of reckless endangerment.
The gross misdemeanor charge filed by CAO’s Criminal Division carries a potential sentence of up to 364 days in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
This is the second time CAO has charged reckless endangerment in a case in which the operator mishandled a drone, causing serious damage. In January this year a jury convicted an Oak Harbor man for his illegal operation of a drone at the Gay Pride Parade in 2015, in which a woman suffered a concussion.
The Seattle Municipal Code defines the charge this way: “A person is guilty of reckless endangerment when he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person.”
It is alleged in the current case that, when found, “One of the drone’s spinning blades was dangerously near wiring from one of the [pyrotechnics] boxes, one motor was well wrapped up in the strap, one blade had shattered, and the drone itself was kicking around threatening the wiring of the pyrotechnic devices.”
Also, it is alleged that Cole Kelley violated FAA rules, including the prohibition of flying above 400 feet in altitude.