EDMONTON — A Lacombe man who hit a police helicopter with a laser beam while trying to fix his son’s toy was handed a $500 fine Friday, putting an end to almost a year of legal proceedings.

Provincial Court Judge Paul Sully declined to give Alvin Vargas Bautista a discharge after previously convicting him of creating a hazard to aviation, contrary to the federal Aeronautics Act.

However, he also declined to hand down the $2,500 fine recommended by the Crown.

“I am confident (Bautista) will not reoffend,” Sully said in a written decision. “However, it is important to make the public aware of the potential consequences of laser on aircraft.”

Sully later wrote that lasers are “dangerous instruments both to the human eye and to aircraft. Like weapons, when one handles a laser, a high standard of care is required.”

The case arose out of an incident on Aug. 19, 2009, when Bautista was fiddling with his son’s toy laser outside an Edmonton apartment building.

Bautista, who came to Canada from the Philippines in 2006, testified during his trial that he was trying to fix the toy laser while waiting for his wife outside the apartment building near Millbourne Mall.

He said he pointed the laser at a cluster of trees several times, turning it on and off, and shaking it. He said he pointed it upward once while trying to test the device.

The laser beam ended up hitting an Edmonton police helicopter. The pilot testified during Bautista’s trial that he was “bathed in a green light” that affected his ability to fly the aircraft.

Bautista’s lawyer had argued his client pointed the toy laser at the leaves of the trees, thinking they would stop the laser beam. He said he exercised due diligence, which would have provided a ground for acquittal.

The judge did not accept the argument and found him guilty of creating a hazard to aviation. Bautista, however, was acquitted of the more serious charge of endangering an aircraft by intentionally hindering the crew.

Pilots associations have claimed that laser strikes on aircraft are increasingly common and that more education is needed to warn the public that lasers can cause hazards for aircraft.

azabjek@edmontonjournal.com