Investigations

On July 6, 2018, an information filed in U.S. District Court, Seattle, Washington, charged Michael M. Mcintyre of Burien, Washington, with knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer at a King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter and its flight path. Mcintyre pleaded guilty on July 10.

 

On March 13, 2018, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reported that someone was pointing an unauthorized green laser at commercial aircraft. A King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, looking for the source of the laser, was also hit, and the pilot had to make evasive maneuvers. Sheriff’s deputies identified Mcintyre as the alleged pointer of the laser.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the King County Sheriff’s Department.