Teen Attacked for Flying Drone Over Beach

A woman who appeared to believe that assaulting a teenager was somehow less illegal than flying a camera-equipped drone over a beach has been charged in an attack captured on video. "He's taking pictures of people on the beach with a helicopter plane," a woman identified as Andrea Mears, 23, says into her phone before allegedly attacking the 17-year-old boy, grabbing his face, calling him a "pervert," and ripping his shirt, the New Haven Register reports. His video of the incident went viral after it was posted on LiveLeak.

The Westbrook, Conn., teen says he was using a quad copter with a camera attached to film the landscape from 50 feet up and has been flying electronic aircraft since he was 9 years old. Mears—who called the police about the teen's drone use—claims he assaulted her first and he edited the video to make her look like the aggressor. He says he was just trying to protect himself. "I was just holding her away so she couldn't cause severe injuries to me," he tells NBC. Mears has been charged with breach of the peace and third-degree assault. (More drones stories.)