A 17-year-old Bowmanville boy is facing several charges after the crew of Durham Regional Police’s helicopter was struck by a laser beam while flying over Bowmanville on Thursday.
At about 11 p.m. Thursday, the helicopter Air1 was flying about 300 metres over Bowmanville when crew members said an intense green beam of light entered the cockpit.
“The pilot had to take immediate evasive action and descended rapidly in an attempt to avoid the laser strikes,” police said Friday.
The crew was able to use an onboard infrared camera to spot several people standing in the backyard of a nearby home.
Officers on the ground arrived at the home and arrested one suspect without incident. He was allegedly found with a small laser pointer.
The suspect, who cannot be identified per the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was charged with mischief endangering life, a criminal offence, along with projecting a bright light source at an aircraft and interfering with the performance of a crew member, both federal Aeronautics Act offences.
He was released on a promise to appear.
An officer who is responsible for Air1 said the service takes incidents like this “very seriously.”
When directed into the cockpit, laser lights can create temporary blindness that may affect the pilot's ability to operate the aircraft safely,” Staff Sgt. Glen Courneyea said in a news release issued Friday.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Courneyea at 1-888-579-1520, ext. 3508.
