On an evening flight over the city of Auburn last October, the crew of the King County Sheriff's Office Guardian 1 helicopter was struck by a laser pointer.It w
On an evening flight over the city of Auburn last October, the crew of the King County Sheriff's Office Guardian 1 helicopter was struck by a laser pointer.
It was something the pilot and flight officer had experienced before, and they quickly located the source of the laser in a vehicle.
Auburn police officers quickly responded to the area as the Guardian 1 crew followed the car around the area.
When the officers pulled the car over, the passenger quickly admitted to pointing a laser at the helicopter.
"I saw the helicopter and I hit the bottom of it," the man told officers. "I was just being stupid ... at first I was shining it up there, playing with it, and then I saw the helicopter. I hit the helicopter with it - no bad intentions. I'm sorry."
Police arrested the man and booked him into jail. The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged him with unlawful discharge of a laser, a felony.
But when the case went to trial earlier this year, a jury acquitted the man.
The problem with the case, prosecutors say, was that they had to prove the man "knowingly and maliciously" discharged the laser at the helicopter. While the man admitted to pointing the laser at the helicopter, he didn't say anything to indicate he had malicious intent.
It's an issue that King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Alex Muir thinks the Washington legislature should take a look at.
“I think the legislature wants to protect these aircraft, they recognize the danger, but the way the statute is written, you can’t actually enforce it," Muir told KOMO News. "In my opinion, I think you have a significant safety risk that isn’t being addressed, or is being addressed poorly with the way the statute is written.”
Pilots and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have warned about an increase in laser strikes against aircraft over the last six years. Lasers can temporarily blind and disorient pilots in flight.
"It’s just an incredible safety risk," Muir said. “When the lasers hit the aircraft, the light bounces around and refracts around the bubble of the cockpit, so it’s not that the laser is directly in their eyes; it’s that there is a green wall in front of them and they can’t see out of the cockpit. I think (the legislature) should take a hard look at this statute - it’s clear they want to protect the safety of pilots, not just first responders, but civilian pilots as well, but take a hard look and see if the statute is actually doing that."
Federal authorities routinely warn of still penalties for pointing a laser at aircraft. Last year, the FBI announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in a laser incident in Washington.
According to FAA data, there have been 200 reports of laser strikes in Washington state since the start of the year.
There is a federal statute for pointing a laser at an aircraft that is punishable by up to five years in prison.
The language in the federal law does not require prosecutors to prove malicious intent, just that the person knowingly aimed the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft.
