Laguna Beach Man Pleads Guilty to Flying Drones Near Aircrafts, Prompting Dangerous Emergency Responses

Coast Guard personnel depart on a search and rescue mission after a collision between a Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter and a Coast Guard C-130 plane which took place Thursday evening near San Clemente Island at the Coast Guard base in San Diego on Oct. 30, 2009. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

Laguna Beach resident Alexander Milinovic pleaded guilty July 13 to three criminal charges for recklessly operating a drone near various aircraft multiple times—including close to a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter mid-flight.

The 62-year-old pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft between June 2022 and March 2023, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.