A 33-year-old Port Angeles man was arrested Monday in connection with an incident in which a Coast Guard helicopter was forced to abort its mission after it was struck by a laser pointer.
Randall Muck will appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Monday afternoon to answer the charges, along with allegations that he lied to FBI agents investigating the Sept. 26, 2016, incident.
The two-page indictment, handed up by a grand jury last week, alleges the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was descending when it was struck by a laser that originated from the vicinity of Fourth and Hill streets in Port Angeles. It is a federal felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to point a laser at an aircraft.
According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Laser light can cause temporary loss of vision and force an aircrew to abort its mission.”
The release said no one suffered permanent injury, but the crew had to go back to base and be assessed medically before returning to duty. Coast Guard crews from Whidbey Island and Oregon had to cover the Port Angeles area of responsibility while the aircrew was being checked.
The subsequent investigation identified Muck as a suspect; however, the indictment does not say how or why the investigation took more than two and a half years to complete.
The indictment also alleges that on May 3, 2018, when questioned by the FBI, Muck made false statements that he did not see a Coast Guard helicopter in the sky that night. Lying to an FBI agent during an investigation is also a federal felony and carries its own five-year prison term.