BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A man was arrested after pointing a laser multiple times at a helicopter belonging to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, according to the sheriff.
Dean Beolet is facing a misuse of a laser light charge, a felony, stemming from Monday’s incident.
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According to Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, the helicopter was helping the Palm Bay Police Department search for a suspect when the laser hit the helicopter and temporarily blinded the pilot.
“Not only did the laser put officers from the Palm Bay Police Department in harms way as it impacted the equipment our team was utilizing to search for the armed suspect, but it also put our flight crew in immediate danger as the laser refracted through our pilots night goggles temporarily blinding him and blurring his vision,” the sheriff wrote on Facebook.
According to a probable cause affidavit, an officer with the police department responded to Carlyle Avenue and located Beolet, who admitted to intentionally shining his laser at the helicopter.
The pilot had to turn controls over to a tactical flight officer, who was also a pilot, according to officials. The pilot said the laser blinded him to the point he had to give control to the co-pilot and that the laser affected the equipment, according to the affidavit.
Ivey said the pilot was examined by an optometrist and cleared to fly afterward.
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