From Ars Technica:
California man who lasered two helicopters to face 14 years behind barsSome more:
Earlier this month, a Fresno man received what is believed to be the strongest sentence issued anywhere in the United States for firing a laser pointer at an aircraft�14 years in prison. His girlfriend was also convicted on similar charges, but she will not be sentenced until May 2014.
�To our knowledge, it is the largest sentence imposed in this type of case,� Karen Escobar, the assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of California, told Ars.
According to the criminal complaint, on a warm summer evening in late August 2012, Sergio Rodriguez took his green laser pointer and fired it at a passing helicopter from outside of his apartment. His apartment complex sat just about a half mile north of the west end of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport in one of the Central Valley�s largest cities.
Unknowingly, the then-24-year-old struck not just any helicopter, but �Air George,� an emergency transport ambulance helicopter of Children�s Hospital of Central California. The helicopter was flying from Bakersfield to Fresno with a young patient, two crew members, and a pilot on board.
The pilot informed the airport�s air traffic control, which then relayed it to a nearby police helicopter that was on routine patrol. As the helicopter, called Air-1, moved to the reported location north of the airport, it was struck seven times as it circled overhead.
Rodriguez� unusually harsh sentence appears to have been influenced by a litany of previous incidents, including a prior arrest in April 2011 for trying to open a box of tokens to play video games, possibly while intoxicated. The following year he was convicted of burglary and a DUI.Stupidity at that level should be punished at that level. Lasers are being marketed as toys and they are not. Landing a helicopter in the daytime is hard enough. At night when you have limited depth perception is even harder. Add a laser burn and you are in for trouble.
Leave a comment