Kansas man aimed laser pointer at law enforcement plane; now he’s facing federal charges
A Wichita man who allegedly pointed a green laser beam at a Kansas Highway Patrol plane last week is now facing federal charges.
Prosecutors say Armando Rodriguez-Leyva, 29, was indicted Wednesday on one count count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Authorities say the highway patrol plane was flying over south Wichita on Dec. 15, helping local law enforcement with a case, when a green beam of light flashed up onto it several times, illuminating the cockpit. Flashing the laser beam toward the plane presented “a serious risk to the pilot,” U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release announcing the indictment.
Light beams from handheld laser pointers can travel more than a mile. For a person in a plane, the beams look “similar to a flashbulb going off in a dark car at night,” McAllister said. They can disorient pilots and cause temporary blindness.
The KHP pilot tracked the green light to a home in the 1100 block of South Terrace in Wichita. Law enforcement found Rodriguez-Leyva sitting in a car behind the house and arrested him, McAllister said.
Authorities receive thousands of reports of lasers being pointed at planes each year, and the FBI estimates that thousands more go unreported.
One of the last times a laser was purposely pointed at a Kansas Highway Patrol plane was in August. Troopers were searching for an escaped inmate in Winfield at that time.
“Engaging in such activity is not a prank; it is extremely dangerous and a federal felony offense,” McAllister said in the news release.
“Federal authorities are dedicated to rapidly bringing offenders to justice. The charge in this case was brought, and the defendant (Rodriguez-Leyva) was arrested, within 5 days of the alleged commission of the offense.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 11:41 AM.
