The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says just before 11 p.m. Friday night, one of their helicopters was conducting routine flight operations near the Plant City Airport when it was hit by a green laser beam.
Pilots were able to pin point the area within the Walden Lake subdivision where the laser was coming from and obtained video of the subject while he was shining the laser at the helicopter.
The suspect, William Polson, continued to shine the laser at the helicopter while pilots guided uniformed patrol deputies to the area.
While deputies were en-route, Polson drove away from his residence in a vehicle. Pilots then directed ground units to Polson’s location and he was pulled over and arrested him for Misuse of a Laser Lighting Device and Obstruction or Opposing an Officer Without Violence. Deputies confiscated the laser beam and Polson was booked into the Hillsborough County Orient Road Jail.
He was released on $2,500 bond. His arrest report says that he told deputies he works as a historian at MacDill Air Force Base.
