By Joel Anderson, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
SPRING HILL — A 23-year-old Spring Hill man faces a charge of illegal use of a laser light after he flashed a laser beam into the eyes of a Hernando County Sheriff's Office helicopter pilot who was flying overhead, according to deputies.
Louis Carmine Amalfitano, of 13321 Jay Court, was taken into custody on an active warrant Monday. He remained behind bars at the county jail Tuesday in lieu of $500 bail.
According to the arrest affidavit, a helicopter pilot with the Sheriff's Office was responding to a call in the area of Weeki Wachee Village on the evening of Sept. 17.
As the helicopter approached the northeast area of Landover Boulevard, at an altitude of roughly 800 feet, the pilot was briefly blinded by a bright-green laser beam. The pilot said he managed to "re-establish (his) vision even though (he) had spots in (his) field of vision" though the light came from a lightning flash but later saw the laser beam coming from the ground.
The pilot and his co-pilot were able to determine the source of the light and reported the disturbance to deputies on the ground. Deputies then tracked down Amalfitano at his home and questioned him.
Amalfitano was allegedly using a hand-held laser pointer to distract the pilot.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Donna Black said authorities spent a week researching the alleged offense and trying determine whether to charge Amalfitano under federal or state law. They decided to charge him in state court.
"This was a very serious issue," Black said. "A lot of people's lives could have been endangered. Especially those on the ground."
Black said she couldn't recall of a similar type of incident in Hernando recently, but federal authorities said they had heard of similar cases in California.
Amalfitano was placed under arrest Monday at his home and transported to the county jail.
Joel Anderson can be reached at joelanderson@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6120.