Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 | 1:59 p.m.
A Henderson man was sentenced today to two years in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a Metro Police helicopter, said Daniel G. Bogden, U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.
James David Zipf, 30, pleaded guilty in June to one count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.
He must report to federal prison by Dec. 30. He also must serve three years of supervised release and undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment.
Zipf admitted that just after midnight on Jan. 30, 2014, he aimed a blue laser four times at a Metro helicopter from the second-story window of the house where he lived in the Green Valley neighborhood, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Zipf also admitted that about 9 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2014, he pointed the laser two times at a Metro helicopter, causing a flight officer to experience a severe headache, officials said.
Zipf was convicted in 2011 in Phoenix, Ariz., of pointing a similar blue laser at a police helicopter there.
It became a federal felony offense in 2012 to target an aircraft with a laser.
“This activity is extremely dangerous and can disorient and temporarily blind a pilot,” Bogden said in a statement.
Since the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration began tracking laser strikes in 2005, there has been a more than 1,100 percent increase in the deliberate targeting of aircraft by people with handheld lasers, officials said.
In 2013, there were 3,960 laser-illumination incidents reported by pilots to the FAA, an average of 10.8 incidents a night.
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