For Immediate Release: July 7, 2008

MAN ARRESTED FOR POINTING LASERS AT AIRCRAFT
IN ORANGE COUNTY CHARGED FEDERALLY

An Orange County man, who was arrested last month for allegedly pointing laser beams at commercial and police aircraft, was in court today after being charged in an indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury, announced Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, and Thomas O’Brien, United States Attorney in Los Angeles. Dana Christian Welch, 36,of Orange, California, faces three counts of willfully interfering with an individual engaged in the operation of an aircraft; specifically, commercial airplanes. Welch is also charged with attempting to interfere with an individual engaged in the operation of a police helicopter. Officers with the Orange Police Department arrested Welch in May after conducting an investigation into reports of laser beams having originated from the general vicinity in which Welch resides. The reports indicated that lasers were being directed at commercial aircraft landing at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Welch was afforded an initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana this afternoon and was remanded to federal custody. If convicted, Welch faces a maximum statutory penalty of twenty years for each count listed in the indictment. An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. MEDIA CONTACT: FBI: Laura Eimiller: 310 996-3343 Orange Police Department: Sgt. Dan Adams: 714 744-7448