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Man chases couple with homemade hatchet, smashes their drone near Tempe golf course

Posted at 4:33 PM, Jun 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-28 21:17:41-04

Court records show that on June 22 a man, upset at a couple for flying their drone, unsheathed his homemade hatchet and chased them through a Tempe golf course.

Tempe police report that 54-year-old David Russell Leroux was in the area of the Rio Salado Golf Course near McClintock Drive and Curry Road and was upset with the couple after they flew a drone. 

The victims told police that Leroux took the cover off of a hatchet, nearly two feet long, and chased them. He reportedly came within a foot of the male victim as he swung the hatchet. 

Leroux then allegedly used the hatchet to smash the $1,500 drone breaking its propeller and lens cover.

Police caught Leroux in the nearby Big Surf parking lot. They also found the hatchet, which police say had a wooden handle and a six inch blade.

Leroux reportedly accused the couple of trying to hit him with the drone. Leroux has been charged with aggravated assault, criminal damage, and threatening with injury.