CHP Helicopter Hit By Laser: Video

OAKLAND, CA — Pilots are reporting that they are temporarily blinded when a laser strikes helicopters or the cockpits of planes. The CHP has striking proof of what it's like; they've released video of a laser strike on one of their helicopters.

The video shows the chaotic scene in the streets of Oakland as cars do donuts near other cars and people while fireworks go off. But it could have turned lethal when one person at the sideshow pointed a laser at the helicopter.

Watch the video to see the moment when everything turns green — the color of the laser.

The video shows a strike from a previous incident to illustrate what it's like inside the aircraft when the laser hits. Video from Sunday's incident has been forwarded to investigators.

A 23-year-old Pittsburg man was arrested for Sunday's laser assault. He faces both state and federal charges and could be fined $11,000 per laser strike, if convicted, according to the CHP.

"The H-32 crew located the suspect who was shining the laser and monitored him from a distance until he left the sideshow," the CHP said in a printed release. "The H-32 crew followed the suspect as he entered a white sedan and left the area. The H-32 crew directed Oakland CHP ground units to the suspects location."

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The photos at the end of the video are of the suspect being arrested.

In 2014, a man in California's Central Valley was sentenced to 14 years in prison for pointing a laser at a police helicopter.

Aviation expert Jim Nance has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the potential for permanent damage to a pilot's vision.

"The potential for getting hit by one of these lasers and ending up with permanent eye damage, I'm afraid, is very high," Nance said. "If you happen to linger on it for just a couple of microseconds, that might be enough to completely wreck your retina. That could put a pilot out of the business of flying."

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Over the weekend, there was a second incident involving sideshows in the Bay Area. Police said an officer was seriously injured when he was intentionally run over by a driver at a sideshow in Richmond.

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— Image and video via CHP