A judge on Thursday sentenced a Northern California man to two years of probation for threatening to shoot down helicopters helping fight the Delta Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest last year, according to federal prosecutors.
Jason A. Tobey, 46, of Dunsmuir, was also ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota to pay a $500 fine.
According to evidence presented at a one-day bench trial in May, Tobey confronted a U.S. Forest Service employee several times about the helicopters, which were using the Mott Airport in Dunsmuir as a base of operation. Tobey lives next door to the airport.
The aircraft were performing tasks such as infrared mapping to assist firefighters on the ground, prosecutors said.
Tobey reportedly told the employee he was going to “shoot those (expletive) out of the sky if I have to” and “did I not (expletive) make myself clear yesterday, or am I out of my (expletive) mind?”