Man who shot laser at ferry slapped with $100,000 fine

MV Tokitae. (credit: Bob Jensen)

A man who pointed a high-powered blue laser at a Washington State Ferry last year has been ordered to pay a $100,000 civil penalty by the US Coast Guard in Seattle.

The civil penalty was issued to Mark Raden of Freeland, Washington, who was determined by Coast Guard investigators to have shot a high-powered blue laser at the ferry Tokitae while it was on a run from Mukilteo to Clinton in October. Raden pointed the laser from the deck of another ship, the Kitsap, which was passing by the Tokitae.

The laser hit the ferry master and first mate of the Tokitae, and the incident resulted in eye injuries to both men. The chief mate's vision still hadn't recovered fully a week after the laser strike, according to statements by Washington State Ferry officials at the time.

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