Two arrested in Clovis for pointing laser at aircraft

Two people were arrested Saturday evening for pointing lasers at passing aircraft from a home in Clovis, Fresno police said.

Around 9 p.m., air traffic controllers at Fresno Yosemite International Airport alerted police that an air ambulance helicopter was struck by a green laser as it flew near the airport. Lasers can cause temporary blindness to aircraft operators.

As the Fresno Police Department’s Skywatch helicopter crew attempted to locate the laser’s origin, the helicopter also was struck with the green laser several times near Willow and Ashlan avenues in Clovis.

The air crew pinpointed the laser’s location on the 3100 block of North Willow Avenue and asked Clovis police to investigate. Police contacted two people, ages 22 and 24, at the location. Both people admitted to discharging the laser at passing aircraft and police recovered the laser. The two were booked into Fresno County Jail on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft.

By Lindsey Jones