CHATFIELD, Minn. — A rural Fillmore County man has been charged with aiming a laser beam at a med-evac helicopter en route to an emergency. Steven Clifford Johnson, 43, was arrested at his trailer house. The pilot of a Mayo One helicopter radioed that the cabin was aglow in green from the laser — a situation known to cause temporary blindness and sometimes permanent damage. A flight nrse aboard the Mayo One flight said she had never experienced such an aggressive attack in nine years on the job.The pilot turned on a spotlight to identify where the laser was coming from. Fillmore County s deputies responded to the site. They said Johnson argued with them to stay off his property but eventually admitted to shining the helicoopter but said it was in retaliation for Mayo One shining at him first. The charge is a federal crime punishable by prison and a $11,000 fine. The Chatfield incident was in October.
Earlier: Prison time for laser attack on airliner
Not first time
Minnesota laser attacks on aircraft have been aimed at airliners beginning their descent into the Minneapolis airport. No crashes resulted. Locating the source of a laser attack van be difficult. A beam fired in 2023 from around Crystal Spring in Winona County, 20 miles from Chatfield, never was found. A 2022 beam fired from Kenyon in Goodhue County, 60 miles from Chatfield, resulted in a two-year prison term.