The police really focused on nabbing this culprit.
A Federal Aviation Administration complaint led to the quick arrest of a Waterbury-LaSalle man on Monday, March 9 for interfering with aircraft.
The FAA brought the matter to the NYPD’s attention after they received reports of someone in the east Bronx pointing a laser at aircraft landing and taking off from LaGuardia Airport in Queens. The NYPD was also targeted.
The NYPD Aviation’s Unit canvassed the area around the airport, and later officers from the 45th Precinct arrested Frank Egan, 36, of Coddington Avenue charging him with multiple counts, including assault on a police officer, felony assault, menacing a police officer, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
According to police, Egan aimed the laser at a police helicopter, injuring two police officers assigned to the aviation unit. A pilot of an Air Canada jet also had his eyes injured by the laser, police stated. The pilots went to hospital for eye care.
When 45th Precinct officers arrived at Egan’s apartment, they were let in by his mother. The sharp-eyed cops saw a black tube with the label ‘Laser 303’ on top of a refrigerator, according to a police report.
“The officers then encountered a 36-year-old male, who, after being questioned, admitted to officers that he is the owner of the laser and did use it that evening,” the report stated.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
Bob Bieder, the president of the 45th Precinct Community Council, praised the police work and highlighted the quick response that resolved the issue.
“People do these things; I cannot imagine why, he said.
Bieder said that the situation was a very dangerous one, as blinding a pilot of an aircraft could lead to a crash.
