Federal and local authorities are cautioning people to keep laser pointers out of the sky as a Hermosa man faces a federal indictment for allegedly aiming a laser at a Chicago police helicopter earlier this summer.
Over the past two years, there’s been a “significant and dangerous increase” in instances of people aiming lasers at aircraft across the Chicago area, the FBI’s local field office said in a news release Friday. In the wake of the spike, the FBI — in conjunction with state and local partners — is imploring the public to refrain from such interference.
“Laser beams can temporarily blind and disorient the pilot, potentially causing a fatal crash,” federal authorities warned Friday. “Laser strikes not only affect helicopter pilots, but also pilots flying both small planes and large commercial aircraft. Pointing a laser is a direct threat to the safety of the pilot, the passengers and everyone on the ground below.”
The announcement comes as Ignacin Ramos faces a federal charge for engaging in an alleged laser strike from his Northwest Side home back in August.
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A federal grand jury indicted Ramos, 36, on one count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois announced this week. The indictment was unsealed in federal court in Chicago on Thursday.
The one-page indictment itself reveals little about the alleged laser strike, but court records from a now-dismissed Cook County misdemeanor case from the same event shed some light on the Aug. 11 incident.
According to an arrest report included in county court records, authorities responded to Ramos’ Hermosa residence after receiving a radio call that a man was on a second-floor porch pointing a laser at a police helicopter as it flew over the area, temporarily blinding the pilot and occupants inside. On arrival, arresting officers found Ramos standing on the porch. They asked him where the laser pointer was, prompting him to pull it from his waistband, the report stated. Ramos was subsequently arrested.
Ramos was, in turn, charged in Cook County Circuit Court on three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct. The county case, however, was dismissed earlier this week, court records show.
As for the federal case, Ramos pleaded not guilty to the lone charge against him at his arraignment in Chicago on Thursday, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 3.
A federal statute has considered it a felony to aim a laser pointer at any aircraft since 2012, the FBI said of the offense in its release on Friday. The charge can carry a fine of up to $250,000 or a federal prison sentence of up to five years. The Federal Aviation Administration may also impose civil penalties of up to $11,000 each time someone aims a laser beam at an aircraft, the FBI said.
“The FBI has zero tolerance,” FBI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen said in a statement, “for anyone who is unlawfully using lasers and attempting to put lives at risk on the ground or in the sky.”
baiduhai’s Jason Meisner contributed.