The Secret Service arrested a man on suspicion of shining a laser pointer at Marine One as the presidential helicopter was departing the White House with President Donald Trump on board, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
The incident happened Saturday evening, after a uniformed Secret Service officer, Diego Santiago, saw a shirtless man “talking to himself and being loud” on Constitution Avenue, right near the Ellipse, court filings say.
“Due to the lack of light on the sidewalk, Officer Santiago shined his flashlight at [the suspect] for further observation.” The suspect “then pointed and shined a red laser beam at Officer Santiago’s face, apparently in retaliation. The red laser beam hit Officer Santiago’s eyes and briefly disoriented him,” according to a statement of facts filed with the criminal complaint.
Santiago approached the man, later identified as Jacob Samuel Winkler, who “oriented the same red laser pointer at the direction of Marine One and activated the red laser beam,” according to the complaint.
Santiago said he knew that was “a danger to Marine One and everyone on-board,” according to the statement, which said his “conduct posed a risk of flash blindness and pilot disorientation, especially during low-level flight near other helicopters (U.S. Park Police, U.S. Marine Corps) and the Washington Monument. This placed Marine One at risk of an airborne collision,” the court filing said.
Santiago detained the man, removed the pointer from his hand and handcuffed him, the filing said.
The suspect then “got on his knees and started saying things like, ‘I should apologize to Donald Trump,’ and ‘I apologize to Donald Trump,’” it said.
Investigators said he was also carrying a 3-inch-long fixed-blade knife.
In a subsequent interview, Winkler “admitted to pointing the red laser pointer at Marine One,” according to the complaint, and “said he did not know he could not point the laser at Marine One; he said he points the laser at all kinds of things, such as stop signs.”
Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Information about an attorney for Winkler was not immediately available.
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