{"id":26162,"date":"2016-08-23T13:40:13","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T20:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162"},"modified":"2016-08-23T13:40:13","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T20:40:13","slug":"man-who-pointed-laser-at-sheriffs-helicopter-sentenced-to-15-months-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162","title":{"rendered":"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, CALIF.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A 35-year-old Santa Ana man who aimed a laser pointer at a law enforcement helicopter investigating a serious traffic accident was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Courtroom\"U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford, sentenced Mario Deleon Lopez, 35. The offense was a \u201cdistraction\u201d to the people in the air and that \u201cpeople could die,\u201d said the judge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lopez pleaded guilty in March to a felony offense of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft and admitted that he pointed a green laser at a helicopter operated by the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the evening of Nov. 14, 2015, Sheriff’s tactical flight deputies responded to a traffic accident in Santa Ana involving an overturned vehicle. The deputies were searching the area to see whether anyone had been thrown from the vehicle when their helicopter was struck with laser beam, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The helicopter was struck multiple times with a green laser that illuminated the helicopter\u2019s cockpit in an attack the tactical flight officer called \u201crelentless,\u201d according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the laser attacks, the deputies, along with the Santa Ana Police Department, successfully tracked the source of the laser to a suspect located in the backyard of a residence in Santa Ana.<\/span><\/p>\n

Police on the ground responded to the residence and took Lopez into custody on state charges of pointing a laser at an aircraft. Lopez subsequently posted bail and was released from local custody while the federal investigation continued and culminated with the filing of the indictment, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis defendant knew that pointing the laser at the helicopter could cause the pilot blindness and endanger those operating the aircraft, but committed the crime anyway,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. \u201cThis was a senseless crime that warrants the sentenced imposed by the court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Reports of laser attacks have increased dramatically in recent years as laser devices have become more affordable and widely available.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, officials maintain that technology has improved the effectiveness of laser devices, with a resulting increase in the potential safety hazards for pilots operating aircraft, as well as their passengers and crew.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such safety hazards include temporary distraction and impaired vision, which is particularly dangerous during the critical takeoff or landing phase of flight. California consistently leads the nation in reports of laser attacks, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 35-year-old Santa Ana man who aimed a laser pointer at a law enforcement helicopter investigating a serious traffic accident was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison, according to officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[184,2964,870,2965],"class_list":["post-26162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-california","tag-helicopter","tag-orange-county","tag-orange-county-sheriffs-department"],"yoast_head":"\nMan Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff's Helicopter Sentenced to Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison for pointing a laser at an Orange County Sheriff's Helicopter.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff's Helicopter Sentenced to Prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison for pointing a laser at an Orange County Sheriff's Helicopter.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-23T20:40:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"390\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-23T20:40:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162\"},\"wordCount\":407,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png\",\"keywords\":[\"California\",\"Helicopter\",\"Orange County\",\"Orange County Sheriff's Department\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Home Main Slider\",\"U.S. Department of Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162\",\"name\":\"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff's Helicopter Sentenced to Prison\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-23T20:40:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison for pointing a laser at an Orange County Sheriff's Helicopter.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=26162#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png\",\"width\":333,\"height\":390},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff's Helicopter Sentenced to Prison","description":"A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison for pointing a laser at an Orange County Sheriff's Helicopter.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff's Helicopter Sentenced to Prison","og_description":"A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison for pointing a laser at an Orange County Sheriff's Helicopter.","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2016-08-23T20:40:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":333,"height":390,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison","datePublished":"2016-08-23T20:40:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162"},"wordCount":407,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png","keywords":["California","Helicopter","Orange County","Orange County Sheriff's Department"],"articleSection":["Home Main Slider","U.S. Department of Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162","name":"Man Who Pointed Laser at Sheriff's Helicopter Sentenced to Prison","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png","datePublished":"2016-08-23T20:40:13+00:00","description":"A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison for pointing a laser at an Orange County Sheriff's Helicopter.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=26162#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Orange-County-Sheriffs-Department.png","width":333,"height":390},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26162"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26167,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26162\/revisions\/26167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}