Man Who Targeted Metro Air Support Helicopter with Laser Sentenced to Prison

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a man who temporarily blinded Metro Air Support pilots with a laser pointer last year to 21 months in prison.

Evidence and testimony at the July trial of Joshua J. Johnson showed that shortly before 9:45 p.m. on August 9, 2024, Johnson used a blue Class IV laser to target a marked Metro Air Support helicopter that was flying over the Benton Park neighborhood in St. Louis in support of other officers. A St. Louis County Police Department pilot and a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department pilot were temporarily blinded when the blue light flooded the cockpit. As the laser light started to wane, officers tracked the beam to a vehicle below them and tracked the vehicle as it drove down the street. The driver aimed the laser at the helicopter again. The officers continued to track the vehicle and provided updates to officers on the ground, who stopped the vehicle and arrested the sole occupant – Johnson. After initially denying that he pointed the laser, he later told officers that he was responsible. He also admitted that fact in calls from jail.

Jurors the trial of Johnson, now 44, of Warrenton, Missouri, convicted him of one felony count of knowingly aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.

“This is dangerous conduct,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohsen Pasha said at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. The strongest consumer model lasers can permanently blind air crews. In addition to criminal penalties, anyone who points a laser at an aircraft can also be subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Pointing a laser at an aircraft can have catastrophic consequences, including the potential for fatal accidents if pilots are temporarily blinded. This is not a harmless prank," said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. "The act is not difficult to trace, and in this case, it took mere minutes for the jury to convict Joshua J. Johnson."

The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Metro Air Support Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mohsen Pasha and Derek Wiseman prosecuted the case.