LAS VEGAS — A 30-year-old Nevada man is facing federal charges that could get him decades in prison for allegedly aiming a laser pointer at a Las Vegas police helicopter six times in less than two weeks.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said Wednesday the case against James David Zipf of Henderson illustrates a nationwide problem that Congress addressed with a 2012 law making it a felony to intentionally point a laser at an aircraft.
Zipf was due to appear Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on six aiming a laser charges that Bogden says stem from incidents between Jan. 30 and Feb. 12.
Bogden says each count carries a possible penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Authorities say lasers can temporarily disorient or blind a pilot.
