For the second time in less than a week, a metro Atlanta man accused of pointing a laser at a police helicopter was arrested.
This time, a northwest Atlanta man is suspected of targeting the Atlanta Police Department’s Phoenix Air Unit.
Officials said Jamal Bard, 31, aimed a laser attached to a handgun at the aircraft as he stood outside his apartment with a small child. The man was charged with illegally pointing a firearm and laser toward the police helicopter in the presence of a young child, according to police.
The helicopter was doing sky patrols early Sunday morning assisting with crowd control near Franklin Forbes Arena at Morehouse College, police said in a news release.
That’s when the pilot spotted someone flaring a green laser at the aircraft repeatedly. The pilot traced the laser to a man standing on his front porch at the Odyssey Villas Apartments in Vine City.
Police released video from the helicopter Tuesday along with body camera footage from two patrol officers who responded to the man’s house in the 600 block of Spencer Street. The helicopter video showed a woman and a small child outside with Bard as he allegedly aimed his laser at the aircraft.
“It’s a dangerous situation for us,” the Phoenix pilot said as he called for ground units. “I’m going to try and get out of the area if we don’t have a unit that can go out here and try and detain this guy. He is just continuously hitting me in the face with this laser.”
The patrol officers arrived at Bard’s apartment minutes later and questioned him about the laser. As he was detained, a woman in the residence gave officers the handgun with the laser attached, police said.
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Police seized the weapon and took Bard into custody.
“Eventually, slick criminals will understand that if you commit a crime in the City of Atlanta, or target the technically advanced Phoenix 1, you will be caught,” Atlanta police officials said in Tuesday’s release. “Not only will the Air Unit’s elite team track you, and capture your every move on video, but they will direct patrol officers to your specific location and watch you get arrested.”
Pointing lasers at planes, helicopters, drones and other aircraft is a federal offense and considered a serious safety risk, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Laser strikes, or instances when people aim lasers at aircraft, spiked 42% in 2021, the FAA said.
Gwinnett County police said Nedzad Mehic, 30, pointed a green laser at the cockpit of its helicopter flying near Cedars Road in Lawrenceville late June 6. Department officials said the Lawrenceville man’s laser interfered with SWAT team exercises at Gwinnett’s police training center.
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