Woman charged after laser shone into Edmonton police helicopter

A 28-year-old woman has been charged aftera laser was shone into the cockpit of an Edmonton police helicopter.

Police say the incident happened at around 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The Edmonton Police Service Air 1 helicopter was called to the scene of an attempted break and enter in the Bonnie Doon neighbourhood whena "blinding laser" was repeatedly shone into the helicopter's cockpit from the ground, EPS said in a news release.

Patrol officers were directed to a home near 88th Street and 84th Avenue, where a woman was arrested.

The woman was charged under the federal Aeronautics Act with endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight.

"The Edmonton Police Service has zero tolerance for irresponsible behavior like this that seriously compromises the safety of our air crew, not to mention our citizens," Staff Sgt. Tom Bechthold, of the EPS flight operations section.

If caught and convicted of shining a laser at an aircraft, a person can be fined up to $100,000,sentenced to up to five years in prison, or both.