laser pointer toward Washington County

When Antom Strom cast a laser pointer toward Washington County sheriff's Deputy Glenn Howard, he chalked up a three-year prison sentence. Strom pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault for shining a green laser pointer across a Tigard apartment parking lot in July, striking the deputy's line of sight from 423 feet away. Deputy District Attorney Bracken McKey described the green laser pointer as a "powerful, industrial grade laser." Howard's left eye sustained retinal scarring that doctors say is permanent, McKey said. In the short term, the incident resulted in a stronger corrective lens prescription laser keychain for Howard's left eye, but his doctor said his vision may deteriorate further. Strom's attorney, public defender Jesse Merrithew, said his client purchased the inexpensive green laser pointer online, and didn't know the potential harm the laser could cause. "I don't see how anybody could be aware of it," Merrithew said. Strom was charged with two Measure 11 counts of second-degree assault and one count of unlawful use of a weapon against another. McKey has never seen another criminal case involving a laser pointer, he said, and because of the case's rarity, the district attorney's office decided to offer Strom a plea deal that dropped the Measure 11 sentence. Howard was responding to a domestic call, which didn't involve Strom, at the Riverwood Heights apartment complex about 10:42 p.m. July 17. Strom told a friend after the incident that shining the laser at the deputy was "like playing with a cat with a flashlight beam," McKey said at Strom's sentencing hearing. Strom's mother, Joni Strom of Sweet Home, maintains that her son's crime was an accident. He was outside playing with the laser, she said, not pointing it at the deputy's eyes purposely. Joni Strom said she and her son fully expected him to receive probation. She said she was shocked by the three-year sentence from Judge Thomas Kohl. "I could understand it if my son was in and out of the system," she said. But, "he's never been in trouble before." The 24-year-old laser pen has no criminal record, graduated from the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in Coos Bay, and at the time of the incident, he worked at a Beaverton restaurant and shared an apartment with his girlfriend and 4-month-old son. Deputy Howard attended Strom's sentencing hearing and testified that Strom compromised his eyesight and caused him to fear for his life. His training has taught him that laser pointers are often mounted to pistols, Howard said, so during the seconds he was exposed to the laser's beam, he pulled his duty weapon and prepared to return fire. Merrithew said in court "it's tough for us to deny the assaultive nature" of Strom's conduct with the laser. Later, he said he believed Strom's chances of conviction at a trial were "extraordinarily high." Under Measure 11, the mandatory minimum sentence for second-degree laser disco assault is typically almost six years. But prosecutors released Strom from Measure 11 guidelines in the plea. They asked the judge for three years in prison, while Merrithew argued for probation. After the sentencing, Merrithew said Strom's lack of knowledge about the danger of his laser pointer didn't change his crime, but he questioned how the punishment fit the criminal. "You gotta think about the person you have in front on you," he said. "How dangerous are they? Somebody who just screwed up is not that dangerous."