Pueblo businessman alleges viral drone pilot harassed him over dispute, police investigating

A Pueblo drone operator who has gone viral on social media for filming and posting videos seemingly provoking people who appear to be homeless has claimed his videos are meant to "shine a light" on homelessness. However, a Pueblo small business owner claims he, too, recently found himself being harassed by the person's drone.

The drone operator, Henry "Hank" Borunda, recently confirmed to Denver Westword he's the person behind the videos as well as the popular "bumsndrones" social media pages, which have sparked condemnations from homeless advocacy organizations and drone experts.

The Chieftain reached out to Borunda through the “bumsndrones” email account but did not receive a response prior to the Chieftain’s Friday deadline. Attempts to reach Borunda by phone were similarly unsuccessful.

In nearly all of the creator's videos posted on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, music plays in the background, seemingly for comedic effect, and multiple individuals filmed in separate videos attempt to flee the vicinity of the drone or seem agitated by its presence.

Borunda owns at least $2 million worth of property in Pueblo, according to county assessor records, and is the former owner of The Greener Side marijuana dispensary, which closed after his operating license was suspended following multiple violations.

In Westword's report, he claimed he is “trying to shine a light” on how people experiencing homelessness live and “inspire change.” But Bob Walker, a long-time Pueblo small business owner, claims after he and Borunda got into a dispute following Borunda's purchase of the building he was renting, he found himself on the wrong side of a menacing drone.

Walker, who has owned and operated The Edge ski and paddle shop in Pueblo for 30 years, said he felt scared by actions he alleges Borunda took during an incident at the Carl’s Jr. drive-thru near Santa Fe Avenue.

Walker told the Chieftain he was in his car on Sept. 12 around 9 a.m. and waiting to collect his drive-thru order at Carl’s Jr. when a drone with gray propellers unexpectedly flew down and hovered within inches of his driver-side window.

Walker said the drone, which looked to be capturing footage, was in the area for 10 to 15 seconds but darted upwards after he grabbed his phone and pretended to record it. Seconds later, Walker said he saw the drone land within fencing that surrounds a warehouse at 117 Hector Garcia Place, which, according to county assessor records, is owned by Borunda.

Walker said he orders food from Carl’s Jr. every Monday so he can pass it out to people experiencing homelessness when they walk by his shop. He said he was startled by the drone and that the car in front of him jolted forward, nearly hitting the car in front of it, when it hovered downward.

“I didn’t know if (the drone) was going to mace me or crash against my car,” Walker said. "It’s not a toy, it’s loud. It’s like a chainsaw coming down on you. To have it right there and that loud and all these propellers spinning — all it had to do was come forward six or eight inches and it would hit the window of my car.”

Walker said he did not see Borunda operating the drone but saw two vehicles previously driven by Borunda parked at the property at the time of the incident. He suspects Borunda may have been piloting the drone from inside the property while monitoring the video feed.

Walker said he did not file an official police report but spoke with Sgt. Jason Smith, who's responsible for the Pueblo Police Department’s drone unit, after the incident and told him he felt “scared” during the encounter.

Capt. Dustin Taylor, Pueblo PD spokesperson, told the Chieftain the department has opened an investigation into the incident based on the information Walker provided and is attempting to identify the parties involved.

“I think he (used the drone) to harass me because we're going through this (dispute),” Walker alleged.

The dispute Walker believes led to the alleged harassment began when Borunda reportedly told Walker he planned to raise his rent at 107 North Union Ave., which is the previous location for The Edge. Walker said he was unwilling to meet that demand, so he made plans to move The Edge to 687 South Union Ave.

Walker said a few days later, on Aug. 4, he posted to Facebook that he was holding a moving sale for The Edge at its original location. The day after his post, he alleges Borunda came into his shop and “blew up” on him.

Walker claims Borunda told him during his visit that he was concerned people would think Walker was moving the shop because of his decision to raise the rent. Walker alleges Borunda said, “This is going to be just like Papa Jose’s again. Everybody’s going to be mad at me about the rent thing.”

Former Papa Jose's owner Mike Pacheco told the Chieftain in January that he couldn't come to an agreement on a lease amount with the new owner of the Papa Jose's building, which he said partially contributed to his and partner Luis Montes' decision to close the restaurant. According to county assessor records, Borunda purchased 320 South Union Avenue, the site of Papa Jose's, in September 2021.

After the Aug. 5 visit, Walker alleges Borunda began driving by The Edge 10 to 15 times a day and yelling at him.

The Chieftain reviewed a screenshot shown by Walker that showed Borunda called him 11 times on Aug. 28 between 5:27 and 5:47 a.m.; Walker alleges Borunda made those calls at that time to harass him.

The Chieftain also reviewed other screenshots of text messages Borunda sent to Walker where he called him a “scared old man,” a phrase Walker said Borunda used repeatedly when he declined to respond to his messages.

“If somebody says no to him, it flips him out,” Walker said.

Walker added he contacted the police department because of how he felt during the incident at Carl’s Jr. and after learning people experiencing homelessness were encountering similar situations.

“When he says (in the Westword article) that he isn’t hassling anybody and that he just wants to shed a light on (the homeless) problem — it’s like, well, you’re shining the drone on lots of people, not just the homeless,” Walker said.

Borunda told Westword, “I want people off their drugs and breaking their addiction for selfish reasons. I am redeveloping Pueblo. But I also want them off the streets. It's not good for anyone."

“It’s just scary,” Walker said when asked how he felt during his encounter with the drone. “Everybody had so much focus on the homeless (aspect) and the guns but they lost sight of the fact that they were being harassed. It’s scary.”

In a video posted to the "bumsndrones" YouTube channel, multiple men are seen using firearms to shoot at a drone filming them. Shooting at a drone, according to Title 18 US Code 32, is a federal violation. However, Sgt. Frank Ortega of the Pueblo Police Department said the operator of the drone never reported the incident to police.

Ortega previously told the Chieftain the individual behind the “bumsndrones” accounts could be in violation of the second category in the city’s municipal code on harassment — following a person in or about a public space — or category six, which is when a person “repeatedly insults, taunts, challenges or communicates with another in a manner intended to cause a reasonable person to feel fear, intimidation or annoyance.”

However, a person experiencing such action must feel they are being harassed or annoyed by another person’s actions and report that to police, Ortega said.

Walker said he told Pueblo police he felt “scared” during the incident at Carl’s Jr. because “how it feels like a lawnmower coming down on you.”

“(Borunda will do this) to anyone who crosses him,” Walker said.

National homeless advocacy organization condemns Borunda's videos

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless watched a few of the videos that were posted to the “bumsndrones” TikTok account and admonished Borunda’s actions, saying they constitute “harassment and bullying” of people experiencing homelessness.

Vic Moss, a drone operator since 2014 and the director of legislative affairs for UAS Colorado, which is the state’s drone business league, said Borunda could be violating Federal Aviation Administration regulations in the way he was using his drone.

Ann Oliva, the CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told the Chieftain she watched snippets of some of the videos but couldn’t watch any in their entirety.

“It’s clear that the power is not with the person being filmed,” Oliva said. “It’s with the drone operator, which is not something we would want to see and I don’t think anybody would want to be filmed in a private moment and in such a disrespectful kind of way.

“The fact that folks are being so openly disrespected when they are forced to live what most of us do in private — it really is a dehumanizing way to use a drone.”

Oliva took over as NAEH's CEO in June after serving as vice president of housing policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She previously served as deputy assistant secretary for special needs for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She said she has been working to address homelessness her entire career, which spans 30 years.

“Homelessness is a reflection of systemic issues, not about personal failures of the individual experiencing homelessness,” Oliva said. “That’s probably the biggest misconception about homelessness nationwide.”

According to a 2020 homeless assessment report from HUD, 580,466 people experienced homelessness on a single night in the U.S., and between 2019 and 2020, homelessness among unsheltered populations increased significantly.

HUD’s 2021 report doesn't include a count on unsheltered homelessness in 2021 — HUD waived this requirement because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but its count on sheltered homelessness dropped 8% from 2020.

Oliva said as the number of unsheltered homeless individuals grows, communities experiencing such a trend tend to become frustrated that there’s visible homelessness because they don’t know what to do about it, or adopt feelings of anger or disdain.

She said videos that align substantively like those shot by Borunda can be found in other parts of the country, and people capturing such footage likely use it to create additional anger and negative sentiments towards people experiencing homelessness.

“When you’re in a position to have a drone and you’ve decided to follow somebody experiencing homelessness, I would imagine it’s because you think something’s wrong with that person or they failed in some sort of way that’s personal, rather than understanding this is a result of a number of systemic issues,” Oliva said.

The NAEH has focused its recent efforts on assisting unsheltered people and seniors experiencing homelessness, Oliva said.

Borunda's "bumsndrones" accounts on Instagram and YouTube remain active, and the new "bumsndrones" TikTok account — Borunda's original account under the same name was deactivated by the platform — has amassed at least 81,000 followers and more than 800,000 likes.

Chieftain reporter Anna Lynn Winfrey contributed to this report.

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo business owner alleges viral drone pilot harassed him with drone