Man Pleads Not Guilty in Run-In With Blimp
A man accused of puncturing the side of a Goodyear blimp with his radio-controlled model airplane pleaded not guilty Thursday to three felony charges stemming from the midair mishap.
John William Moyer, 28, of Redondo Beach was arraigned in Compton Municipal Court on one count each of felony vandalism, assault by means of force likely to produce bodily injury and damage to an aircraft rendering it unsafe. Moyer faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison if convicted of all charges. He was ordered to appear at a pretrial hearing on Jan. 17.
Moyer allegedly was operating his airplane, which had a four-foot wingspan, from a vacant field in Carson on Oct. 1 when he directed his plane toward the Goodyear blimp Columbia, buzzing it several times.
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