An alarming aviation safety incident unfolded over Lincoln County when a high-altitude commercial flight was targeted by a high-powered beam. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, someone near Tomahawk pointed a laser at a Boeing 737 cruising at 34,000 feet on Sept. 13.
Broad Incident Reports Across Lincoln County
The laser strike report emerged alongside a series of other public safety calls handled by local law enforcement during the mid-September timeframe. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Report released on Sept. 15, deputies managed multiple criminal investigations, traffic pursuits, and accident responses across the region, reflecting a busy period for emergency responders in northern Wisconsin.
Earlier in the week, on Sept. 11, the Sheriff’s Office received a driving complaint regarding a white Ford Fusion operating erratically on USH 51 near the 208-mile marker in the Town of Pine River. Deputies reported that the vehicle was all over the road and that the driver appeared to be struggling with consciousness. When a deputy attempted a traffic stop, the driver failed to pull over, initiating a vehicle chase that crossed into Marathon County before stopping at the 199-mile marker. The driver, a Wausau woman, exhibited signs of impairment and was subsequently arrested for a second offense of operating while intoxicated (OWI), alongside charges of resisting, failing to stop, fleeing, and obstructing an officer, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office report. She was transported to the Lincoln County Jail, with assistance provided at the scene by the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office and later at Aspirus Merrill Hospital by the Merrill Police Department.
Traffic Crashes and Other Criminal Investigations
Law enforcement records also detailed multiple traffic collisions involving failure to yield at intersections. On Sept. 9, deputies responded to a two-vehicle crash with injuries at the intersection of CTH Z and STH 107 in the Town of Corning. Investigators determined that a motorist traveling east on CTH Z failed to stop at a stop sign, striking a northbound vehicle broadside. The drivers and a passenger sustained minor injuries, with the passenger transported via ambulance to Aspirus Merrill Hospital. A similar incident occurred on Sept. 10 at the intersection of CTH J and CTH X in the Town of Schley, where a westbound driver ran a stop sign and collided with another vehicle, resulting in minor injuries and a traffic citation.
Additional entries in the sheriff’s log included a Sept. 7 burglary in progress on Oak Ridge Avenue in the Town of Merrill, where a Shell Lake man was detained by deputies and later jailed for burglary, entering into/onto a building/construction site/ room, and a probation violation. On Sept. 9, deputies investigated a reported battery and choking incident on Goehe Road in the Town of Harrison, after which a Lake Tomahawk man turned himself in to face charges of battery and disorderly conduct with assistance from the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office.
As local authorities continue to review the circumstances surrounding the high-altitude laser strike near Tomahawk, investigators have not yet announced any public arrests specifically tied to the Sept. 13 aircraft incident.
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