Drone flies too close to NYPD chopper, police say; operators arrested

"Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, said the case exemplified some of the problems in the lack of regulation for civilian drones. He noted that the men were charged with reckless endangerment rather than criminal negligence.

“You have to figure out whether the people who put the drones into play really intended for this to occur,” Calo said. “If someone is purposely flying a drone by an NYPD helicopter, they would get in trouble the same way they would if they threw a rock at the helicopter, but it's harder to prove because you need to find out the state of the perpetrator’s mind.”"