Teen accused of pointing laser at jet

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old boy was arrested in Newport Beach, Calif., on suspicion of pointing a laser at a commercial jet and a police helicopter.

Authorities said the teenager, a Las Vegas resident, was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly pointed a laser he received as a gift at a SkyWest Airlines plane and a Newport Beach police helicopter that was sent to investigate the incident, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

The arrest was the third involving lasers in Orange County, Calif., in the space of a week.

Police in Garden Grove, Calif., arrested a 52-year-old man Sunday after an airline pilot contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to report a laser, the Times said. The crew of an Orange County Sheriff's Department helicopter said they were hit in the eyes with a laser beam while investigating.

A 19-year-old man was arrested hours later on suspicion of aiming a laser at the same sheriff's helicopter.

"Every year around Christmastime, people get lasers as presents and we see this sort of thing," sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino told the Times. "We don't know if the intent is malicious ... but it's against the law, and we intend to prosecute."