A 13-year-old boy who temporarily blinded an Orange County helicopter pilot with a laser light, will face charges, deputies say.
On Friday night, one of OCSO’s Chase Units was approaching State Road 408 near Powers Drive, when the pilot of the helicopter was struck with a laser in his night vision goggles. The pilot took emergency evasive action to position the helicopter out of the beam, but then began a search for the culprit.
On the third orbit over the area the pilot was once again hit with the laser beam. But this time the pilot and his observer were able to pinpoint that the light came from North Observatory Drive.
Deputies say, three subjects were located in a yard on North Observatory Driver where the laser appeared to come from. After calling for back up, authorities made contact with the three people and determined that it was a 13-year-old boy who had pointed the laser at the helicopter. The boy was in the presence of his parents at the time of the incident.
Deputies say, the 13-year-old boy will face charges for pointing a laser beam at the chopper. It is the second such incident to occur in Orange County this week.
