GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County police said laser strikes are becoming a bigger problem after yet another person was arrested for shining a laser at a police helicopter over the weekend.
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Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson was at the Gwinnett County Airport Tuesday, where Gwinnett County Senior Police Pilot Diego Galaso said he was temporarily blinded by a laser on Saturday night near Norcross.
A laser pointer from the ground can fill the windshield of a helicopter so quickly that it can blind the crew inside.
“It definitely is a very dangerous thing,” Galaso said. “There’s no room for not being able to see. You have to be able to concentrate and make sure you’re safe.”
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Galaso was flying on Air 1 on Saturday helping officers find someone near the Tera Apartments on Jimmy Carter Boulevard when someone pointed a green laser at the helicopter.
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“It’s definitely a few seconds where you’re kind of in shock,” Galaso said. “All we do is wait until it hits us again in that area and we’re able to zoom in, follow that laser beam right back to the source.”
Police found the man with a green laser in his pocket and charged him with two counts of laser use against an aircraft, among others. Anyone arrested for committing the crime can now also be held on federal charges.
Across the country, the FAA recorded more than 13,000 strikes against all aircraft in the sky. Galaso said it’s a priority to find the people responsible before they target pilots with passengers onboard.
“If they’re doing it to us, that means they’re doing it to other airplanes,” Galaso said.
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