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US: UPDATED - Guilty plea for Dallas man who aimed green laser pointer at helicopter

22-year-old Kenneth Santodomingo pleaded guilty on February 28 2013, to aiming a green laser pointer several times at a Dallas police helicopter that had been searching for car burglary suspects on January 28 2013. The light spread across the windscreen and obscured the pilot’s vision.

Pic 2013-04-02 at 2.30.01 AM

The entire video from the Air One helicopter can be seen
here at YouTube.


The incident was captured on video. Above is a still frame from the video, showing the maximum laser impingement on the camera. (It should be noted that this is a very brief and atypical freeze frame; for most of the video the laser is waving around but is not aimed directly into the camera lens.)


Kenneth Santodomingo laser
Kenneth Santodomingo


When arrested, he was clad only in his boxer shorts. Santodomingo told officers “I wanted to see how far it [the laser’s beam] would go.” Sentencing is scheduled for July 25 2013; he could receive up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

From NBCDFW.com and the Dallas Morning News

UPDATED July 25 2013: Santodomingo was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

US: Fla. man accepts plea; did not think laser could reach aircraft

A 34-year-old Florida man pleaded guilty to one count of pointing a laser light at a driver or pilot, a third-degree felony. He avoided up to five years of prison and instead received one year probation, 140 hours of community service, and agreed not to possess a laser pointer.

Michael Anthony Fowler
One year probation, 140 hours of community service --- and cannot own a laser pointer

Michael Anthony Fowler of Silver Springs Shores was arrested Dec. 2 2010 after a “bluish laser light” illuminated a Marion County Sheriff’s Office helicopter. Ocala.com quoted him as saying “I didn’t even think the laser pointer could reach that far.” Fowler told the news site that he was the second person in Florida history to be charged with that offense, after Frank Newton Anderson.

From Ocala.com and Gainesville.com