The US teenager who sparked an internet sensation by building a small drone capable of firing a handgun, has been arrested and released on a $20,000 bond.

Austin Haughwout, an 18-year-old mechanical engineering student from Clinton, Connecticut, was charged with assault and interfering with a police officer, officials said.

The charges have nothing to do with the drone, but stem from an incident last Sunday and a physical altercation with officers, the Clinton police department said.

He was arrested on Wednesday evening after being asked to turn himself in on an outstanding warrant.

Police said he refused to submit to arrest and that he hit and kicked at two officers “repeatedly”.

As a result he was charged with two counts of assault and a single count of interfering with an officer.

The arrest warrant also charged Haughwout with interfering with an officer and failure to obey an officer’s signal.

He appeared in court on Thursday and posted a $20,000 bond.

Earlier this month, Haughwout posted a video called “Flying Gun” that shows a homemade multi-rotor drone hovering off the ground and firing a semiautomatic handgun in the Connecticut countryside.

It has been watched around 2.8 million times and on Tuesday the Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating.

The FAA is poised to miss a September deadline for a final set of rules to govern civilian drones in crowded US skies -- prompting industry fears that the United States is falling behind other countries in developing high-value UAV technology

AFP