A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use

Canada: Laser pointer aimed into home; police lecture offender

Police were called to a home in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on January 25 2017, where someone was aiming a laser pointer into the home. “They found the offending laser pointer operator and advised him about approved uses of laser pointers.”

From a “Daily police calls” column in the Moose Jaw Times Herald

US: Laser pointer on home; Tulsa woman investigates and is shot

A woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma was shot in her leg after investigating a laser pointer being aimed onto her house. She went to a hospital, was found to be in fair condition, and was released after a few hours.

On May 22 2014, at about 10:30 pm, 50-year-old Dawn Adams went out her back door to investigate the laser light on her home. She asked the person to stop because the laser dot was upsetting the family dogs. They heard gunshots and thought the person might have shot the dogs. Adams and her son Philip Klimcak, 23, went outside and saw a person dressed in dark clothes who started walking the length of the house, “spraying bullets the whole way.” (Neighbors reported hearing about six shots; a reporter later found almost a dozen holes in the house.)

Klimcak pushed his mother back to protect her. A bullet went through the home structure and into Adams’ leg.

Dawn Adams Philip Klimcak Tulsa laser pointer home
Philip Klimcak, in dark clothing, speaks with KTUL reporter Caitlin Alexander outside his mother’s home.


Police believe the weapon was a pistol. They are looking for a suspect, but do not have a good description. Klimcak said it may have been a gang initiation.

There was no immediate information regarding whether the laser was on the pistol or was a separate stand-alone device.

From KTUL.com, Tulsa World, and KJRH.com

US: Teen awakened by burglar aiming laser gunsight at him

A 19-year-old youth was awakened in his Sandy Springs, Georgia, home by a burglar. On June 20 2013, the teen saw a red dot from a laser gunsight, a few feet away. The burglar shouted at him to go back to his room. A Sandy Springs police spokesperson said “From what he [the teen] said that laser pointer or that laser on the gun was pointing at him on the wall.”

No shots were fired. The burglar left with thousands of dollars in jewelry, driving away with an accomplice. Police are searching for the suspect.

From Fox30Jax.com

US: Laser pointer aimed into neighbor's window in Mass.

The Burlington (Massachusetts) Police Department log for July 10 2012 has an entry that “At At 9:37 p.m. a caller from Wing Terrace reported a next door neighbor is shining a laser pointer into her bedroom window.”

From BurlingtonPatch.com

Note from LaserPointerSafety.com: We monitor news reports of laser misuse. One reason for this is to try to get an idea of the relative rate of events such as harassment of the public and of sports figures, aiming at automobiles, aiming at airplanes, etc. We see relatively few reports such as the one above, but have listed it as part of this coverage.
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US: Suspicious red laser pointer in Mass. bathroom

“March 12, 2012, 2:54 a.m. A call was received from the Massachusetts State Police regarding a break in. A caller had called the state police reporting two shadows on the shade of the basement window on Franklin Street. Caller said he did not see any actual people, but he did see a red laser pointer in his bathroom.”

From the Mansfield, Mass. police log, as reported by Mansfield Patch

Note from LaserPointerSafety.com: We monitor news reports of laser misuse. One reason for this is to try to get an idea of the relative rate of events such as harassment of the public and of sports figures, aiming at automobiles, aiming at airplanes, etc. We see relatively few reports such as the one above, but have listed it as part of this coverage.
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US: NY residents report red laser shined into home

The Scarsdale (New York) police department received a call from two residents reporting that a man dressed in black shined a red laser into their home. Police units investigated but could find no sign of the man or the laser pointer.

From Scarsdale Patch

Note from LaserPointerSafety.com: We monitor news reports of laser misuse. One reason for this is to try to get an idea of the relative rate of events such as harassment of the public and of sports figures, aiming at automobiles, aiming at airplanes, etc. We see relatively few reports such as the one above, but have listed it as part of this coverage.
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US: Ocean City NJ residents report increasing laser harassment

Residents of Ocean City, New Jersey are reporting increasing laser pointer harassment of ordinary citizens. This is in addition to multiple reports of aircraft being lased from the resort town. Officials have asked local merchants to stop selling laser pointers though voluntary compliance has been spotty. This has brought renewed attention to a state Senate bill that would prohibit the sale of laser pointers above 1 milliwatt.

Ocean City Patch said a “quick survey ... found repeated recent uses of laser beams to bother drivers, pets and pedestrians”. Persons interviewed gave anecdotes such as a laser being aimed from outside into a woman’s kitchen window, and a group of 20-year-olds who were lasing passersby including a man and his dog.

Because of aviation and other incidents last year, both police and the local Boardwalk Merchants’ Association (BMA) had asked stores to stop selling pointers. Some complied, or only sold lower-power red and yellow lasers. But since a few stores continued selling laser pointers, the competitive pressure caused others to resume sales. Ironically, one of the stores to resume sales was managed by the brother of the BMA’s president. The store listed the top selling items as being green laser pointers selling for $25 and $35. The manager said “he plans to continue selling them as long as they are legal to sell.”

To fix this, last November Ocean City’s state senator Jeff Van Drew introduced New Jersey Senate bill 2430, banning laser pointers above 1 milliwatt. This is five times less than the U.S. federal limit of 5 milliwatts as set by the Food and Drug Administration. S2430 is currently pending in the state Senate Commerce Committee.

From the Ocean City Patch.

Related LaserPointerSafety.com news stories about Ocean City and New Jersey laser troubles

US: Ohio man harasses radio station with green pointer

A 37-year-old man was charged with inducing panic and aggravated trespassing, after being caught on Feb. 21 2011 aiming a green laser pointer at the windows of radio stations WTAM-AM and WMMS-FM near Cleveland Ohio. He had also aimed at the stations’ windows two weeks earlier but was not caught on that date.

In addition to the laser harassment, the man also had “littered the entrance” to the stations with pornographic photos on Feb. 8

From
Cleveland.com