Man In Underwear And With Spotlight Arrested
12-17-2010, 09:24 AM
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Man In Underwear And With Spotlight Arrested
From Seattle PI:
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a Lynden man accused of using a spotlight to temporarily blind a border patrol helicopter crew.
In charging documents unsealed Friday, prosecutors contend Wayne P. Groen was clad only in his underwear when, on Sept. 22, he was arrested with spotlight in hand.
At 9:30 p.m. that night, the Customs and Border Protection crew was assisting in an interdiction operation near Lynden when a high-power spotlight blasted the helicopter cockpit, FBI Special Agent Linwood E. Smith, III, told the court. Both the pilot and copilot were wearing night vision goggles at the time; the amplified light temporarily blinded both.
Flying about 500 feet above ground level, the pilot has unable to remove his goggles as he had the flight controls in hand, Smith continued. His copilot removed his own goggles and guided the helicopter out of the area.
Shortly thereafter, the helicopter returned to guide a Customs and Border Protection ground unit to the spotlight's source. There, agents found Groen in a car parked in his driveway.
Groen exited the vehicle clad only in his underwear, the FBI agent told the court. Smith added that Groen was carrying a spotlight, and admitted to shining it at the helicopter.
On Nov. 11, another FBI special agent interviewed Groen. Investigators claim Groen again admitted to shining the light at the helicopter after becoming annoyed by the border agents' presence over his home.
"Groen said he was upset at the time, and that he wanted to let the 'Border Patrol' know they were bothering him," Smith told the court.
"Although Groen admitted that shining his spotlight at the helicopter was 'probably a bad idea,' he tried to justify his actions by stating that what he did 'made things better because government helicopters have stopped flying over his house."
Arrested Friday, Groen has been charged in U.S. District Court with interference with the authorized operation of an aircraft.
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a Lynden man accused of using a spotlight to temporarily blind a border patrol helicopter crew.
In charging documents unsealed Friday, prosecutors contend Wayne P. Groen was clad only in his underwear when, on Sept. 22, he was arrested with spotlight in hand.
At 9:30 p.m. that night, the Customs and Border Protection crew was assisting in an interdiction operation near Lynden when a high-power spotlight blasted the helicopter cockpit, FBI Special Agent Linwood E. Smith, III, told the court. Both the pilot and copilot were wearing night vision goggles at the time; the amplified light temporarily blinded both.
Flying about 500 feet above ground level, the pilot has unable to remove his goggles as he had the flight controls in hand, Smith continued. His copilot removed his own goggles and guided the helicopter out of the area.
Shortly thereafter, the helicopter returned to guide a Customs and Border Protection ground unit to the spotlight's source. There, agents found Groen in a car parked in his driveway.
Groen exited the vehicle clad only in his underwear, the FBI agent told the court. Smith added that Groen was carrying a spotlight, and admitted to shining it at the helicopter.
On Nov. 11, another FBI special agent interviewed Groen. Investigators claim Groen again admitted to shining the light at the helicopter after becoming annoyed by the border agents' presence over his home.
"Groen said he was upset at the time, and that he wanted to let the 'Border Patrol' know they were bothering him," Smith told the court.
"Although Groen admitted that shining his spotlight at the helicopter was 'probably a bad idea,' he tried to justify his actions by stating that what he did 'made things better because government helicopters have stopped flying over his house."
Arrested Friday, Groen has been charged in U.S. District Court with interference with the authorized operation of an aircraft.
