A 13-year-old Florida boy has been arrested for allegedly pointing a green laser at a sheriff’s helicopter.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said the crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. Thursday as the helicopter was flying over 7th Street Northwest and 11th Avenue in Largo.
In a video shot inside the helicopter, released by the sheriff’s office, officers identify the boy pointing the laser and direct law enforcement on the ground to his location.
«Get up and put someone on this gentleman. He is blinding our pilot,” an officer is heard saying.
‘I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS A POLICE HELICOPTER’: A 13-year-old allegedly pointed a flare gun with a mounted green laser at a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office helicopter “because he was bored,” according to the sheriff’s office. https://t.co/kU9sdhlhDw pic.twitter.com/WvB3peynTr
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Body camera footage from field officers shows them approaching the young teenager, who had a flare gun with a green laser mounted in his jacket.
The boy told officers he didn’t know it was a law enforcement helicopter and that he was simply aiming the laser because he was “bored.”
According to a Fox News report, “The boy was arrested and charged with improper use of a laser lighting device. He was taken to the Pinellas County Juvenile Assessment Center.
“Under Florida statutes, it is a crime of the third degree for any person to knowingly and willfully point, aim, or focus the beam of a laser illumination device at an individual operating a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft” , the report adds.