Laser pointer hits NYPD helicopter

The Boston Globe ^ | August 1, 2006 | Associated Press

[looscnnn]

A 19-year-old man was arrested after authorities said he shined a laser pointer at a police helicopter.

The bright green laser beamed into the cockpit late Monday night, temporarily blinding the officers, said Melissa Klein, an NYPD spokeswoman.

Police arrested Anthony Pepe a short time later, and charged him with reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon, Klein said.

[Mark was here]

Lazer pointers will do NO harm. I've seen people use them to make their cats or dogs go around in circles and I'm sure it was shined into the pets eyes, and guess what. Nothing. They are completely harmless. The ones sold in stores and office supply shops.

There are laser pointers and there are laser pointers. This guy was not fooling around with something from Office Max. They can be dangerous.

[guitar4jesus]

Seems like it'd be pretty easy to get away with this.
Especially the ones that do it to planes.
Seems like you'd have to be an idiot to get caught.
Of course, you'd have to be in idiot to do it in the first place!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Does your husband attempt to blind pilots with his laser?

He's apparently more level-headed than that.

[presently no screen name]

Good comeback!

[GovernmentShrinker]

Only after he USED it as a weapon.

[finnman69]

not the class IIIb classifed by the FDA

this is a classIIIb green laser
http://www.megalaser.com/120mw.htm

(9) Class IIIb laser product means any laser product that permits human access during operation to levels of laser radiation in excess of the accessible emission limits of table III-A, but does not permit human access during operation to levels of laser radiation in excess of the accessible emission limits contained in table III-B of paragraph (d) of this section. 5

5Class IIIb levels of laser radiation are considered to be an acute hazard to the skin and eyes from direct radiation.

[Kieri]

Our old laser pointer is the cat's favorite toy. Our Tonkinese, Perri, will ignore just about everything (except those little furry mice), but a dot of light on the wall or floor will send her scrambling. It's great exercise for her! We're sure its safe, but the kids know better than to shine it at her eyes, just in case.

[taxcontrol]

Folks, we are talking a type of laser in the 80mW power range. That is 16 TIMES more powerful that your typical laser pointer. Consider the fact that The U.S. military is deploying a laser device in Iraq that would temporarily blind drivers who fail to heed warnings at checkpoints. In an attempt to stem shootings of innocent Iraqis. The pilot project will equip thousands of M-4 rifles with the 10 1/2 -inch-long weapon, which projects an intense beam of green light to "dazzle" the vision of oncoming drivers.

A sustained exposure can blind someone for life.

In fact, these types of WEAPONS are so effective, they have been addressed by Protocol IV of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons that was issued by the United Nations on 13 October 1995. It came into force on 30 July 1998.

Do not underestimate these lasers.

[taxcontrol]

These are NOT your run of the mill 5mW red beam lasers.

[timestax]

There are laser pointers and there are laser pointers. This guy was not fooling around with something from Office Max. They can be dangerous.

Please show me a news article, etc. showing that a person was harmed in any way from a LAZER PEN.

[Graybeard58]

Chopper in the air, pointer on the ground. How did they catch him?

[Recovering Hermit]

Green lasers are supposedly much more powerful than those little red jobs:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5a47/

That said, some idiots just never learn. IIRC there were a few folks who got themselves into big trouble doing this crap a couple of years ago.

[Just another Joe]

Anything that will blind a pilot would be a weapon, imo.

A good high powered flashlight with a narrow beam can blind a pilot.

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

How do they isolate a single person on the ground as being the "laser-wielder" when a helicopter or airplane is zooming past at anywhere from 100 m.p.h. to 550 m.p.h. overhead? Many people have emergency flashlights that put out over a million candlepower, do they mean to say that could be a weapon if one was to aim it skyward in the dark of night and encounter an aircraft? How would they prove who it was if the person simply turns off the flashlight/laser and walks into their home and watches television for the rest of the night?

~ Blue Jays ~

[Cobra64]

I've used laser pointers for years in large auditoriums. Inless the laser were mounted on a scoped rifle, it'd be tough to train the beam on the pilot's pupil at a distance of X yards while the helo is in motion.

(just my two cents)

[Blue Jays]

We're reading from the "same sheet of music" with regard to this investigation. Our posts were within seconds of each other...

[Cobra64]

Lazer pointers will do NO harm.

Well then, try it and get back to us. Hope you're a touch typist.

[Cobra64]

There are laser pointers and there are laser pointers.

A friend of mine was an EE back in the late 60s. He built a pulse laser. We set up mirrors around the four corners of the engineering building. He punched holes through stainless steel razor blades.

He called it his Razor Lazer.

[longtermmemmory]

so it becomes a weapon to illegally posses AFTER the fact...

So we are all criminals in possession of weapons since we own automobiles and automobiles are weapons under the law...

[timestax]

Well then, try it and get back to us. Hope you're a touch typist.

If I told you I have had lazers PENS aimed at me and my eyes with no problem, you prolly wouldn't believe it.

So why don't YOU try to find a news article that shows a person was really harmed in any way from a lazer pen.