Laser Lightshow Lands Sarasota Brothers in Jail

SARASOTA, FL — Pointing a laser light at an aircraft isn’t the best idea.

Two Sarasota brothers found that out the hard way Wednesday night when their nighttime lightshow ended with a trip to jail.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Deputies Dave Bouffard and Stephen Schull were patrolling the area near Interstate 75 and Porter Road around 11:30 p.m. when they happened to notice a green light hitting their chopper.

“It happened several more times with both red and green lasers lighting up the cockpit simultaneously,” an email from the agency to media stated.

The two deputies traced the source of the lights to 2493 Andansian Lane.

“The subjects can be seen on thermal imaging in the back and side yard of the property, and each time they fired a laser the subjects would retreat around the east side of the house and re-enter through the front door,” the email said.

The trick didn’t fool deputies.

When ground patrol arrived on the scene, the brothers again retreated into the house, an arrest report stated. One of the brothers allegedly “slammed the slider door closed,” and told deputies to leave his property, the report noted.

As deputies continued to try and talk with the brothers through a window, one of the officers happened to find “a red laser and a green laser pointer on the patio where the two subjects had been sitting.”

Both brothers were ultimately brought into custody on misuse of a laser lighting device charges, which is a felony. One of the two acknowledged it was a “very stupid” thing to do, the report noted. That brother told deputies he did not want to hurt anyone.

Despite their intentions, Gary Alexander Bennington, 25, and Matthew Allen Bennington, 22, were brought into custody. Deputies also found marijuana in their possession, so both face charges related to that, as well.

The brothers were booked into the Sarasota County Jail early Thursday morning. Gary Bennington was later released in lieu of $2,000 bond. Matthew was also released in lieu of $3,000 bond, jail records indicate.

Booking photos of Gary and Matthew Bennington courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office