Update: Man Accused of Helicopter Laser Strike in 4S Ranch

Updated 12:56 p.m. Wednesday

A man in 4S Ranch could be facing felony charges after allegedly pointing a laser at a San Diego County Sheriff's Department helicopter flying overhead Tuesday night.

Around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, an ASTREA (Aerial Support to Regional Enforcement Agencies) Sheriff's Department helicopter was flying over 4S Ranch when the crew noticed a 22-year-old 4S Ranch man pointing a laser at the aircraft, Lt. Todd Richardson said.

"It's not different, really, than if you were to shoot an officer," Richardson told Patch, adding that the lasers can inflict permanent eye injury and cause the crew to crash.

The helicopter crew directed deputies from the Poway station to a home on the 16000 block of Dove Canyon Road, where they stood on the balcony and confirmed with the crew that it was the correct location, according to a news release from Richardson.

A 22-year-old man at the home was identified as the one pointing a laser and he turned over a commerical grade green laser, Richardson said. The case has been turned over to the district attorney's office, with the man potentially facing a felony charge for aiming the laser at an aircraft, he said.

Over the past 18 months, there have been about a half-dozen laser pointing incidents in the county, Richardson said, though none of the aircraft crew members have been injured. There are usually two-person crews on the helicopters.

Typically, the suspects are teens who are playing around with commerical grade or industrial green lasers without realizing how serious pointing them can be, the lieutenant said.

"It can be fully incapacitating. The cockpit glass tends to defract the light and make it bounce around even more" and disorient the crew, Richardson said.

Other times, the people aiming at the aircraft have criminal records and are trying to inflict harm, Richardson said.