L CERRITO — Police arrested a 50-year-old man this morning after they say he shined a laser pointer into the cockpit of a Highway Patrol helicopter flying above the city, momentarily incapacitating the pilot.
Three officers were aboard. Nobody was hurt.
El Cerrito police asked the CHP for the helicopter about 2:30 a.m. to help search for a burglar who fled into the woods behind the city recycling yard at the end of Schmidt Lane. Police had staked out the yard for several nights because of copper theft, Detective Sgt. Paul Keith said.
"We set up out there and we heard them in the yard," Keith said. "There were two of them. We arrested (a 31-year-old San Pablo man) and the other ran up the hill."
The CHP helicopter, equipped with infrared equipment, looped around the crime scene at about 1,000 feet looking for the burglar. The pilot reported that a green laser struck his craft about 2:50 a.m., and the laser subsequently shone in his face, forcing the helicopter to abort its search for 10 or 15 minutes and for authorities both in the air and on the ground to look for the laser's source.
The helicopter spotted a man standing in a driveway near the corner of Moeser Lane and Seaview Drive and directed El Cerrito police to the address. Officers found three men inside. The resident, commercial laser salesman Brian Butler, eventually produced a green laser pointer.
Butler, a current probationer, was also wanted on uspicion of auto theft in Colorado, according to a statement from the CHP.
Police booked Butler into County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft — a potential felony — and booked another suspect on suspicion of petty theft.
Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com
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