Laser Strikes on Kern County Sheriff Helicopter Lead to Prison Sentence
Pilot temporarily lost vision
A Bakersfield man was sentenced today after pleading guilty in December, 2022 to pointing a laser a a Kern County Sheriff helicopter.
Richard Earl Francis, 51, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to one month in prison to be followed by 11 months home detention and 36 months of supervised release for knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer the helicopter.
According to court documents, on July 28, 2022, while the sheriff’s helicopter was patrolling the Oildale area of Bakersfield, Francis shined a bright green laser into the cockpit of the aircraft four times. One of the airmen experienced temporary loss of vision in his right eye as a result of the laser.
In 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received 9,457 reports of laser strikes. In 2022, there were, on average, three laser strike incidents reported every month in Bakersfield.
