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US: 18 months for California man who led police on a high-speed chase

Michael Vincent Alvarez, 32
Fresno, California, US


Michael Vincent Alvarez laser

On October 22 2017, Alvarez aimed a green laser beam several times from his car, towards a Fresno police helicopter. Police on the ground approached the car. Alvarez led them on a high-speed chase until he crashed into a center divider. He then ran from the car but was arrested in a backyard. He told police that he “thought it would be funny to point the laser at a helicopter.”

He was sentenced May 7 2018 to 18 months in prison.