© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Another laser strike on police helicopter in St. Louis area

A view from the pilot's seat when a laser beam, like that from a laser pointer, hits the cockpit glass. (Video shot in a simulator).
(Screen capture via YouTube/ildalasershows/FAA/U.S. Air Force)
A view from the pilot's seat when a laser beam, like that from a laser pointer, hits the cockpit glass. (Video shot in a simulator).

Police in St. Louis County are investigating another laser strike on aircraft.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a green laser hit a police helicopter flying over the Webster Groves area Thursday night. Pilots could not find the source of the laser beam, and no arrests have been made.

Just last month, 26-year-old Justin Stouder of Hazelwood publicly apologized for pointing a green laser at another police helicopter in April 2010, temporarily blinding the pilots. He was never formally charged but spent a year on probation.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported more than 2,800 laser strikes nationwide in 2010.