Free Republic

A federal judge ordered 26-year-old Sergio Rodriguez to spend the next 14 years in prison Monday for “lasing” a police helicopter as a national crackdown on people who point lasers at aircraft intensifies. Rodriguez was arrested in 2012 and convicted in December 2013 of attempting to interfere with the operation of an aircraft, which comes with a maximum 20-year sentence. His girlfriend Jennifer Coleman, now 23, was convicted of pointing a laser at an aircraft, a federal crime established months before the Clovis, Calif., couple’s arrest that’s punishable by five years in prison. She will be sentenced May 12. The...

How low will they go?? As low as laser blinding Greek Police: "A riot policeman is aimed at with a laser light pointer during riots outside the Athens Polytechnic. Small bands of Greek rioters hurling firebombs attacked an environment ministry building, shops and banks in Athens on Saturday during an eighth day of protests following the killing of a teenager by police." And that's not all: "A warning from Serb intelligence about the mobilization of an extremist Islamic organization in Greece has put the Greek authorities on high alert. Several days ago, Serb intelligence briefed a Serb parliamentary Committee that...

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.