Man held for pointing laser at Metro helicopters to be released

A Henderson man who pleaded guilty to pointing a powerful laser at Las Vegas police helicopters earlier this year was ordered released Monday from federal custody.

Prosecutors did not oppose freeing James Zipf while he waits to be sentenced.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe ordered Zipf, 30, to find a job and refrain from using any laser pointers.

Zipf pleaded guilty last month to one of six felony counts of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.

The other five counts will be dismissed at his Sept. 25 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Miranda Du as part of his plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Zipf was indicted by a federal grand jury in February in a half-dozen laser strikes between Jan. 31 and Feb. 12.

Prosecutors alleged that Zipf had endangered those aboard the aircraft. In one attack, the pilot became so disoriented that he had to land and end his shift.

Zipf, who moved to Henderson from Phoenix last year, has a 2011 conviction for pointing a similar blue laser at police helicopters there.

The Las Vegas charges are part of a federal statute enacted by Congress in 2012 and come amid a national campaign by the FBI to curb the rising number of laser strikes on aircraft.

Since 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration has ranked Las Vegas among the top 10 in the nation of cities where pilots are reporting laser strikes. There were 94 reports in 2013, ranking Las Vegas sixth.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.