Teen Sentenced to Prison For Lasering a Helicopter

[Guest]

Wow 15 months. There better be no planes that fly over Disney. There, laser shows wouldn't hit them at all would they. Another instance of the punishment not fitting the crime or circumstance. The teen will probably come out of prison worse than he went in. Where is common sense these days.

 

[blibba]

So... why don't the military use laser pointers on enemy helicopters? Seems much cheaper than guns.

 

[bounty]

Manslaughter may have worse end results, but justice is not revenge. In a manslaughter case, someone did something dumb non maliciously and had an accident. In this case a person was doing something dumb maliciously. Dropping a cigarette in your lap while driving is not the same as dropping bricks off a bridge onto cars. Either one may or may not kill someone, but one has malicious intent.

This is why attempted murder is more like a 5-8 year sentence and vehicular manslaughter can even be a as low as misdomeaner in some states.

 

[Zerk]

Now Just think if they had HellFire Missiles! They might have blown him up, good thing he only got 15.

 

[deletemach_kernel]

damn...and if i point out the andromeda galaxy to someone using a pointer laser .... and some damn chopper passes by that means i am going to jail!!!!! FAIL

 

[eddieroolz]

Deserves it. Someone like him doesn't belong in the gene pool, honestly.

 

[steiner666]

must have been one low flying heli or he's got a hell of a laser and aim to match. FEDERAL PRISON?! are you fucking serious?

 

[Roten67]

[citation][nom]sliem[/nom]He's stupid but 15mo is too long. Poor guy.[/citation]


15 months- he probably had a criminal record as log as ya arm already, so prolly not his first offence

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]superblahman123[/nom]Hold on.... The cop that killed a (maybe more than 1, don't remember) teenage girl because he was texting on a highway doing more than 100mph gets paid suspension and tons of probation, while a kid with a laser pointer miraculously hit a helicopter cockpit gets 15 months in prison? Seriously? What was the technical charge of all of this?.... The judicial system is a peice of work...[/citation]

amen

 

[jj463rd]

An excellent resource on LASER Pointer safety is here.
Especially look at the Aviation hazards of LASER's and Effects on Pilots
http/www.laserpointersafety.com/
On the 2004 FAA/USAF simulator study with 532nm DPSS Laser's the problem in the cockpit would be a lot worse if the Laser's beam was further collimated with a telescope (it would be able to blind from a much vaster distance than the demonstrations).

 

[wotan31]

[citation][nom]Wolfram23[/nom]You've got to be kidding, 15 months in prison!?!? Sure it wasn't a smart or safe thing to do, but crashing into another car because of "being distracted" gets you a ticket (if nobody dies, and no drugs or alcohol involved).[/citation]
Crashing a car because of "being distracted" is a very different thing from crashing a helicopter. You crash a helicopter, and everyone inside becomes real dead, real quick. No such thing as a "fender bender" when you're piloting a helicopter. Sorry, but this kid acted with malicious intent, and he got exactly what he deserved.

 

[Guest]

There are people actually defending that a 19 yr old boy should spend more than a year in prison for pointing a laser in a 700ft range....the area of the heli at that distance its smaller than the precision of the human eye-hand( i did made the math), the fact that the he pointed in to pilots head its completely random.And the laser dind´t bring any kind of consequence.

If he was being judged by anything other than being stupid he would being charged as Attemped murder or if something had acttually happened, murder without intention. But he is being charged by a fellony !

People defending prision must be on crack. I would like to see how they would react if they get 15 mo by playing with a ball and hiting one car at the street creating an accident. You people are crazy, im glad you are not me neighbors, and that my country´s system is not THAT messed up.

 

[jj463rd]

[citation][nom]blibba[/nom]So... why don't the military use laser pointers on enemy helicopters? Seems much cheaper than guns.[/citation]
During the Vietnam war conflict the U.S. Armed Forces did experiment with using collimated Pulsed Ruby LASER's and flash detectors on helicopters to automatically fire a burst of Laser radiation at Vietcong FLAK gun aimers for the purpose of permanently blinding them.That's all I know about it.
Don't know how successful it was though.

 

[xizel]

i gues anyone in there car with a laser pointer in Cathedral City that day was subject to prison lol
god bless america NOT

 

[Codesmith]

I thought about getting one of these $300 1W lasers, it would be fun to use to pop balloons, light matches, cut thin sheets of plastic, until I read the safety warnings.

http/www.wickedlasers.com/laser-tech/blue_light_hazard.html

 

[cpatel1987]

I agree with wolfram23 on this one, except most "accident's" are just that.,,accidents. This act was purely intentional. The punishment doesn't quite fit the crime, and I do hope it gets repealed. Not to say the kid wasn't a complete dumbfk for doing it, and every time I see people "play" with laser pointers like that I seriously want to slap the back of their heads and tell them how retarded their being. But wolfram is correct. Perhaps confiscating the laser and fining him a hefty amount for endangering lives, but prison is overkill, even if it is 1 year, especially considering our prison system is so broken.

 

[suisenbenjo]

15 months in prison for dicking around with a laser? GTFO He's an idiot, not a violent criminal, though after 15 months in prison that may no longer be the case. People get less than that for killing someone all the time.

 

[Guest]

Lindsay Lohan would of got a slap on the wrist

 

[Guest]

15 MONTHS?!?!?! omg they are ruining his life!!!

I mean how does "over 1 year in prison" look like in your Curriculum Vitae?! The guy won't ever get a normal, well paid job, suitable for him. He could be a high school janitor at best.

Not to mention what kind of people will he meet in the can. He'll probably end up as a demented psycho when he gets out.

-- All this for a flash with a laser pointer on a choppa, that with a hell lot of luck (or bad luck) hit the cockpit.

 

[cookoy]

Quote: "Remember everyone, laser pointers are best reserved for cats, not choppers."

On behalf of all the cats in the world: "We protest vehemently the above statement!"