Feds pursuing laser directed at NJ State Police helicopter during chase

Federal investigators are trying to determine who flashed a green laser into the cockpit of a State Police helicopter that was monitoring a weekend chase. “That’s a federal offense,” said N.J. State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones. North Bergen police searched the area that their state counterparts said the laser originated. Now the FBI and federal aviation authorities are getting involved.

Jerry DeMarco

09/23/2009 2:31 p.m.

Police were chasing three men who jumped from a stolen pickup truck on Meadowlands Parkway and disappeared into the meadows.

Jones said no one in the chopper was affected. But that doesn’t make it any less of a crime.

What many people may not understand is the Patriot Act clearly defines “interference with an aircraft,” which can include shining a laser into a cockpit, to prevent pilots from reading their instruments, as an offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

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