Man who pointed laser at police helicopter claims it was an 'honest mistake'
An Adelaide man arrested for shining a laser pointer at a police helicopter claims he was entertaining a child and thought the chopper was a drone.
In the sky over Rostrevor, a police chopper was looking for a stolen car when the cockpit lit up.
"We're being lasered," the pilot says.
"It's actually causing a severe safety risk to our mission ... If we can get patrols ASAP to go there to stop him."
Within minutes, officers arrived on Michael Buder's doorstep.
"He said, 'right, you're under arrest' straight away, and I'm like, 'under arrest? For what? For playing with a toy?'"
Mr Buder admitted to using the laser but says he was simply entertaining his cousin's two-year-old son, thinking the lights he saw in the sky belonged to a drone.
But as the lights got closer, he realised it was a police helicopter - and in the eyes of the law, he had just pointed a prohibited weapon at it.
"I certainly would never have dreamt that it's a weapon of any kind," Mr Buder said.
He will have the chance to tell his story to a magistrate next month.
While he knows ignorance of the law isn't a defence, he hopes the fact it was an honest mistake will work in his favour.
In the meantime, all he and his pet chihuahua Pixie can do is wait and hope.
