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<p>Video from Fresno Police’s Air-1 shows a suspect pointing a powerful green laser at their helicopter Thursday night. The video also shows the officers making the arrest. </p><p>The laser attack set off a chain of events that landed two officers in the hospital. It wasn’t the officers in the air, but those on the ground who were rushing to the source of the attack, when a vehicle struck the officers’ car.</p><p>"Broadsided the police car. The officers inside were injured. The passenger officer, where the impact was–most of the impact–seriously injured," said. Lt. Joe Gomez with the Fresno Police Department.</p><p>That officer suffered a broken leg and a fractured back. The officer driving was knocked unconscious.</p><p>Up in the sky, the chase continued. FLIR video from Air-1 shows officers arresting the laser-pointing suspect, 28-year-old Johnny Quenga.</p><p>Other squad cars arrived at the scene, directed there by the helicopter’s spotter. </p><p>Police said Quenga used an airsoft rifle to point the laser.</p><p>"He had a laser attached to an airsoft rifle–looked just like a regular assault rifle," Gomez said.</p><p>Leona Stone, owner at LR Stone’s Firearms, often sells airsoft rifles and mounted lasers.</p><p>"If it was attached to a firearm, you don’t point that at any kind of aircraft or anyone. You point it at a target that you plan on shooting," Stone said.</p><p>She demonstrated why it’s dangerous to do what police said the suspect did Thursday night.</p><p>When a green laser shined on our lens, the green light filled the screen. Now imagine flying a helicopter in those kinds of conditions.</p><p>"I certainly wouldn’t understand why anyone would be pointing a green or red [laser] at aircraft," Stone said.</p><p>It’s a scenario that’s played out far too often in the skies of the Valley–law enforcement aircraft coming under laser attack.</p><p>The consequences can be disastrous, and the penalties are severe.</p><p>Late last month 34-year old Jeremy Danielson of Clovis was federally indicted for allegedly pointing a laser at a CHP aircraft.</p><p>Last year, another Clovis man was sentenced to 14-years in prison for pointing a laser at a Fresno police helicopter.</p></div>
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