Youths Charged in Laser Incident

Two teen-age boys in San Dimas were arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon after two sheriff’s deputies in a helicopter were momentarily blinded by a laser beam of red light, deputies said today.

The teen-agers, 16 and 17, were playing Thursday night with an IBM gas laser, similar to those used at supermarket checkout counters, when they aimed the device at a helicopter hovering over Juanita and Hatfield avenues, Lt. Richard Wallace said. The pilot and observer were blinded and veered from the path of light to maintain control of the helicopter. The youths were released to their parents, and the deputies will undergo further eye examinations today.