Crime & Safety

Man Shined Laser Pointer in Cops' Eyes, Say Police

23-year-old man arrested, charged with reckless endangerment.

A man who shined a laser pointer into the eyes of a cop driving a squad car has been arrested and charged with a felony, according to White Plains Police.

Cops received word early Tuesday morning that a Greenburgh police officer had been driving on Aqueduct Road when he was hit in the eye with a green laser pointer's beam, police said.

White Plains dispatched an officer at around 1:30 a.m. to the area to investigate—and the officer was promptly harassed with the same laser, authorities told Patch.

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Police said the light temporarily blinded the officer behind the wheel, putting him and other motorists or pedestrians "at risk of death."

The officer, noting the light came from the Battle Hill region, investigated. He knocked on the door of 97 Robertson Ave., where he suspected the light was coming from.

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A 23-year-old man—Michael Vicars—answered the door an admitted to shining the light into motorists' eyes, police said. Vicars also surrendered the laser pointer.

Vicars has been charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree, a felony.

Police said Vicars was impaired by alcohol during the time of his arrest.


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