BRONX — A man confessed Friday to shining a laser pointer at airplanes approaching and taking off from LaGuardia, to spare his girlfriend's brother who had been charged with the crime earlier this week, prosecutors said.
Elehecer Balaguer, 53, interrupted the hearing of Frank Egan, 36, a flower shop owner who was arrested Monday for blinding pilots with a powerful laser, and told the judge that he was the one who should have been arrested, Terry Raskyn, the Bronx District Attorney spokeswoman, said.
Balaguer, who is dating Egan's sister, said he was inside a third-floor Schuylerville apartment at 2801 Coddington Ave., near East Tremont Avenue, about 9:20 p.m. on March 9 when he started beaming his Laser 303 at the aircraft, prosecutors said. He thought Egan was asleep, they said.
Balaguer said he thought he had been shining it at a wall.
Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration spotted the laser and told the NYPD, which began scoping out the areas around LaGuardia, police said.
The laser beam hurt the eyes of three pilots in two planes — including a pilot on an Air Canada flight AC727, which was carrying 69 passengers — as well as two NYPD officers in a helicopter looking for the culprit, police said.
Balaguer had an outstanding warrant for a marijuana charge and was expected to clear those charges at the Bronx Criminal Court on Friday.
After the morning's hearing, Bronx officials said they would defer the case against Balaguer to federal court.
Charges against Egan are still pending in Bronx Criminal Court.
