California

Fresno Man Sentenced for Pointing Laser at Plane

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a 22-year-old Fresno man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a California Highway Patrol airplane.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said Monday that David Walter Fee's prison sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release.

Authorities say the CHP plane was struck as many as 50 times by a powerful green laser pointer, causing the pilot to suffer temporary blindness and break away from a burglary at a Fresno middle School.

The U.S. attorney's office says the Federal Aviation Administration has received 104 reports of aircraft laser incidents in the Eastern District of California, which covers the Central Valley.

Authorities are asking the public to immediately report aircraft laser incidents.

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