A Florida man buzzed a stranger's open car window with a drone at midnight and then reached through and sent the man's own phone into his eye.
He was out of jail the same day.
But you should see what this man had already done before he picked up that drone.
Five Priors and Still on the Street
Richard Carpenter, 34, launched his drone just after midnight on May 4 near his St. Petersburg apartment complex.
His target was John Murray – a delivery driver whose car Carpenter had seen around the neighborhood.
Carpenter decided Murray was following him.
So he flew the drone at Murray's open driver-side window – back and forth, repeatedly – at speeds officers said "could cause significant injury if it was to strike the victim."
When police arrived, Carpenter told them he thought Murray was following him "since he has observed the victim's vehicle in many different locations."
Murray delivered packages for a living.
Officers reported slurred speech, glassy eyes, and the smell of alcohol – and Carpenter admitted he had been drinking before flying.
What the original news reports buried: Carpenter didn't stop at the drone.
He walked up to Murray's car, reached through the open window, and grabbed Murray's phone – which struck Murray near the left eye.
That charge is burglary with assault – a felony.
Carpenter's prior record includes aggravated assault, battery, assault on a law enforcement officer, violating probation, and improper exhibition of a firearm.
He posted $150,500 bond and walked out of Pinellas County Jail the same day.
A Repeat Violent Offender Who Keeps Getting Released
Here is the question nobody in the mainstream media is asking: how does a man with that record end up free to terrorize a stranger with a drone at midnight?
Florida does have tough laws on paper.
The state's Prisoner Release Reoffender statute – on the books since 1997 – targets violent criminals who reoffend within three years of release.
Florida's uniform bond schedule, implemented in 2024 and refined through 2025, created mandatory judicial review for the state's 26 most dangerous crime categories.
But Carpenter had a prior conviction for assaulting a law enforcement officer and a probation violation on his record – and he was still out on the street.
Still drinking.
Still flying a drone at a working man's open car window at midnight.
The system had multiple chances to keep this man away from the public.
It didn't.
Drones Are the New Weapon and Courts Are Scrambling to Catch Up
The Carpenter case is not a quirky Florida Man story.
It is what happens when violent repeat offenders are recycled back onto the street and handed technology that didn't exist when the justice system was built.
In Virginia, a man named Dustin Honeycutt flew drones repeatedly over a family's farmhouse – following children as they played outside, flying so low the drone tried to land on their front porch.
He was convicted on six of eight counts including stalking and entering property to harass using a drone.
Law enforcement agencies across the country now use that case to train officers on drone threats.
In Missouri, prosecutors charged a man with felony second-degree stalking of a law enforcement officer after he flew a drone over the officer's property – low enough that the officer's children ran into the woods in fear.
Congress passed the NDAA in December 2025, creating new felony penalties up to five years in prison for using drones to facilitate other felonies.
The FAA classifies every drone as an "aircraft" under federal law.
Under Section 107.27, a drone operator cannot fly within eight hours of drinking alcohol, while impaired, or with a blood alcohol concentration above 0.04 – half the legal driving limit.
Carpenter broke every one of those rules.
John Murray – the delivery driver whose only crime was parking near Carpenter's building – went home with a bruise near his left eye.
The system keeps telling us it's working.
Ask Murray if he agrees.
Sources:
- Staff Report, "Affidavit: St. Petersburg Man Arrested for Flying Drone While Drunk," WTSP 10 Tampa Bay, May 2026.
- Staff Report, "Police: Man, 34, Arrested For DWI (Droning While Intoxicated)," The Smoking Gun, May 2026.
- J. Rupprecht, "Section 107.27 Alcohol or Drugs," Drone Law Pro, 2023.
- Staff Report, "Rockingham County Woman's Drone Stalking Case Sets National Precedent," Police1, January 2025.
- Staff Report, "NDAA 2026: Local Police To Gain New Powers To Take Down Your Drone," DroneXL, December 2025.
- Staff Report, "How New Florida Laws Target Repeat Offenders Starting October 2025," Altman Bail Bonds, September 2025.
