Man arrested for pointing laser at sheriff’s office helicopter

A 40-year-old man is accused of shining a green laser at a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office helicopter crew, distracting and temporarily disorienting the members, who were helping Spokane police officers from above search for a hit-and-run suspect.

Brandon P. Ferreira then hid behind a car and entered a structure on Sinto Avenue between Ruby and Division streets where officers arrested him, according to court documents.

A sheriff’s office flight crew was searching Saturday night for a driver who fled from a crash on Sprague Avenue and Altamont Street when a green laser illuminated the cockpit and distracted them, according to the crew members in documents. The pilot reported the laser forced the crew off the hit-and-run call and interfered with her flight capabilities.

Detectives in the helicopter located Ferreira below as the suspect continued to shine the laser at the aircraft. Ferreira ran across the alley and hid behind a car before going inside a secondary home behind the main home on Sinto Avenue.

Detectives guided officers to the residence.

A Spokane police officer responding to the home stood in the alley and saw Ferreira open the house door and use a telescope to look in the sky and watch the helicopter, the officer wrote.

Ferreira told law enforcement he was looking through the telescope at “bums” in the alley, but the officer never saw anyone else in the alley. Police seized a laser pointer on a bed in the home and booked Ferreira into jail on suspicion of felony first-degree unlawful discharge of a laser.

Ferreira made his first appearance Monday in Spokane County Superior Court and was set for an arraignment Wednesday. He remained in jail Wednesday morning on a $20,000 bond.

This was at least the third time this year suspects pointed lasers at sheriff’s office flight crews, according to the sheriff’s office.