Man with laser pointer charged for shining light in cockpits

An Orange man accused of pointing lasers at commercial airliners at John Wayne Airport and a Costa Mesa police helicopter looking for him in May was charged in federal court Monday for the incident, officials said.

Dana Welch, 36, faces federal charges for allegedly pointing lasers into the cockpits of United Airlines, Alaskan Airlines and Delta Airlines commercial jets as they landed, and also into the cockpit of a Costa Mesa police helicopter police assigned to look for him. Costa Mesa officers in the air tracked the light into the city of Orange. Police there were unable to locate anyone that night, but the next morning they searched Welch’s home, who is a parolee, and found two lasers, officials said.

Welch faces four charges related to the incident, each one carrying up to a 20-year sentence, federal officials said.

— Joseph Serna