News Copter Over Park Slope Is One Of Three Hit With Laser Beams

Police arrested two suspects who were spotted aiming lasers at two helicopters hovering over Brooklyn last night.

News copters from WCBS 2 — which was hovering near the Barclays Center at the time — and WNBC 4 were struck by laser beams. The helicopters took part in locating the suspects.

According to CBS New York, reporter Joe Biermann saw the laser beam hit the cockpit. “When we were looking there, we got lasered,” Biermann said. “(At the same time), the NYPD was right next to us, so they hovered above the place – a green laser.”

The news copters could see the laser beams being aimed at the them, and that the people with the lasers appeared to be laughing about it.

Reporter Dennis Protsko told NBC, “You get hit in the face like that, in the eyes, and you can go temporarily blind… We’re talking about a helicopter that weighs almost two tons. Imagine that coming down on your house because the pilot’s vision is impaired. Even more serious if it was a jetliner.”

Police later arrested the suspects in an alley near 925 Fulton Street in Clinton HIll.

In a separate incident last night, a news helicopter for WABC 7 hovering in New Jersey was also hit with a laser beam, and similarly helped police catch the suspect.

NBC New York explains that “pointing a laser at a plane is a federal crime, and the FAA since 2011 has been moving to enforce penalties against those found pointing lasers at aircraft, including imposing civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation.”