DAYTONA BEACH — An aspiring pilot told officials he was surprised to learn it was a crime to point a laser at an aircraft and said he had just been playing with the green beam of light by pointing it at the sky.
Gerardo Sanchez, 23, was charged by police with pointing a laser at a driver/pilot. His arraignment is set for Jan. 28.
Sanchez of Daytona Beach told police he had been flying for two years and had just started flight training at ATP Flight School at Daytona Beach International Airport.
According to his arrest report, Sanchez was walking near the airport about 10 p.m. Jan. 3 when an American Airlines pilot landing an airliner was hit by a green laser for about one to two seconds. The other pilot saw the laser but the light did not strike him. The green beam also hit two air traffic controllers in the airport’s tower, the report said. Sanchez admitted to having a green laser on him when Officer Shawna Conley confronted him.
“Why you pointing it at planes?” Conley can be heard saying on a police body camera video obtained this week.
“At planes no, no, I pointed at the sky,” Sanchez replied, and he held his hand up as if clutching a laser.
“Right, right, you realize you were pointing in the sky at the direction of planes, right, which is a federal offense, bro?” Conley said.
“What?” Sanchez said incredulously.
“Yeah, cause if you shine a light and cause a plane to crash or cause a pilot to have a problem, that’s a almost a capital crime, bro,” Conley said.
(MORE: FBI's awareness campaign about lasers.)
Federal law calls for five years in prison and up to $11,000 fine for someone aiming a laser at an aircraft. A person can also be charged federally with interfering with a flight crew which is punishable by 20 years in prison.
Sanchez has not been formally charged but if prosecutors believe the laser injured someone, he could face a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. If prosecutors decide no one was injured, Sanchez could face a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Sanchez's Fort Lauderdale attorney Gustavo Frances said that state statute makes it against the law for someone "knowingly and willfully" to shine a laser at a pilot. The law makes no mention of air traffic controllers, Frances said.
"Police have to establish that he willfully and intentionally aimed it at the pilot," Frances said. "He did not aim it at the pilot."
Frances, who has yet to see the police video, also said that he and Sanchez were not admitting even a basic issue.
"We are not admitting that he used a laser at all," Frances said.
Frances said he was retained by Sanchez's family but declined to discuss what brought Sanchez to Daytona Beach or anything about his client's background.
At his apartment this week, Sanchez said he was no longer a student at ATP but declined to say why or answer any other questions, saying his lawyer had advised him not to talk.
But Sanchez was more talkative when police stopped him on that Sunday night on Clyde Morris Boulevard near the Bellevue Avenue Extension. Sanchez said he had been a pilot for two years in his native Guatemala. Sanchez told police that he had been training at ATP for a month or two.
He said he recently got the laser after ordering it online. Sanchez on the video said he wanted to apologize to airport personnel.
Conley tells him one just arrived referring to airport operations agent Ed Fust who drove to the scene.
“Apparently, there was a misunderstanding,” Conley tells Fust. “He just got it and he was just shining it up in the sky. He didn’t realize where he was at,”
Fust asked Sanchez for the laser and he hands it over. Fust aims it down, switches it on and a bright green circle appears on the sidewalk.
“We just had a commercial (plane) land. It’s not a joke. It’s not a misunderstanding,” Fust said.
Fust later said the laser beam also hit two small planes besides the airliner.
"I was not really aiming for the aircraft, like I was explaining to the officer, the aircraft might have struck the path of the light," Sanchez tells Fust. "I was not, that was not the goal, like to aim at the airplane."
Sanchez asks about what will happen to him.
“I’m not going to jail or anything am I?” Sanchez said.
The officer tells him she is still investigating but Sanchez was later handcuffed and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he ramained for two days until he was released on $1,500 bail.
At one point several officers stand around Sanchez and someone out of view of the camera questions him, apparently checking if he is aware of news reports of people pointing lasers at planes.
“You watch the news or anything,” the person asks.
“I try not to, really,” Sanchez said.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20160119/NEWS/160119507/0/search
Gerardo Sanchez, 23, was charged by police with pointing a laser at a driver/pilot. His arraignment is set for Jan. 28.
Sanchez of Daytona Beach told police he had been flying for two years and had just started flight training at ATP Flight School at Daytona Beach International Airport.
According to his arrest report, Sanchez was walking near the airport about 10 p.m. Jan. 3 when an American Airlines pilot landing an airliner was hit by a green laser for about one to two seconds. The other pilot saw the laser but the light did not strike him. The green beam also hit two air traffic controllers in the airport’s tower, the report said. Sanchez admitted to having a green laser on him when Officer Shawna Conley confronted him.
“Why you pointing it at planes?” Conley can be heard saying on a police body camera video obtained this week.
“At planes no, no, I pointed at the sky,” Sanchez replied, and he held his hand up as if clutching a laser.
“Right, right, you realize you were pointing in the sky at the direction of planes, right, which is a federal offense, bro?” Conley said.
“What?” Sanchez said incredulously.
“Yeah, cause if you shine a light and cause a plane to crash or cause a pilot to have a problem, that’s a almost a capital crime, bro,” Conley said.
(MORE: FBI's awareness campaign about lasers.)
Federal law calls for five years in prison and up to $11,000 fine for someone aiming a laser at an aircraft. A person can also be charged federally with interfering with a flight crew which is punishable by 20 years in prison.
Sanchez has not been formally charged but if prosecutors believe the laser injured someone, he could face a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. If prosecutors decide no one was injured, Sanchez could face a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Sanchez's Fort Lauderdale attorney Gustavo Frances said that state statute makes it against the law for someone "knowingly and willfully" to shine a laser at a pilot. The law makes no mention of air traffic controllers, Frances said.
"Police have to establish that he willfully and intentionally aimed it at the pilot," Frances said. "He did not aim it at the pilot."
Frances, who has yet to see the police video, also said that he and Sanchez were not admitting even a basic issue.
"We are not admitting that he used a laser at all," Frances said.
Frances said he was retained by Sanchez's family but declined to discuss what brought Sanchez to Daytona Beach or anything about his client's background.
At his apartment this week, Sanchez said he was no longer a student at ATP but declined to say why or answer any other questions, saying his lawyer had advised him not to talk.
But Sanchez was more talkative when police stopped him on that Sunday night on Clyde Morris Boulevard near the Bellevue Avenue Extension. Sanchez said he had been a pilot for two years in his native Guatemala. Sanchez told police that he had been training at ATP for a month or two.
He said he recently got the laser after ordering it online. Sanchez on the video said he wanted to apologize to airport personnel.
Conley tells him one just arrived referring to airport operations agent Ed Fust who drove to the scene.
“Apparently, there was a misunderstanding,” Conley tells Fust. “He just got it and he was just shining it up in the sky. He didn’t realize where he was at,”
Fust asked Sanchez for the laser and he hands it over. Fust aims it down, switches it on and a bright green circle appears on the sidewalk.
“We just had a commercial (plane) land. It’s not a joke. It’s not a misunderstanding,” Fust said.
Fust later said the laser beam also hit two small planes besides the airliner.
"I was not really aiming for the aircraft, like I was explaining to the officer, the aircraft might have struck the path of the light," Sanchez tells Fust. "I was not, that was not the goal, like to aim at the airplane."
Sanchez asks about what will happen to him.
“I’m not going to jail or anything am I?” Sanchez said.
The officer tells him she is still investigating but Sanchez was later handcuffed and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he ramained for two days until he was released on $1,500 bail.
At one point several officers stand around Sanchez and someone out of view of the camera questions him, apparently checking if he is aware of news reports of people pointing lasers at planes.
“You watch the news or anything,” the person asks.
“I try not to, really,” Sanchez said.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20160119/NEWS/160119507/0/search
