A man is accused of allegedly pointing a high-powered laser at a plane from a Vernon park a year ago. Blake Everett Dergez was arrested in Vernon’s Becker Park on the evening of September 9, 2021, after a Nav Canada representative contacted police and advised them that someone was pointing a green laser at planes flying over Vernon. The police found Dergez in the park and arrested him. At the time, police said Derguez assaulted officers while being arrested, but Derguez later accused officers of punching and kneeing him in the face during the arrest. While Dergez was charged with a handful of offenses after the incident, including five counts of assault with a weapon, assault on an officer, uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, he has now been charged for allegedly shining a laser on a plane. . On September 7, Dergez was charged with two offenses under the Aeronautics Act, including engaging in conduct that endangers the safety or security of an aircraft in flight by “impairing the ability of any crew member to perform that member’s duties crew”. A conviction under the law can result in a maximum fine of $100,000 or a maximum of five years in prison. Dergez is next scheduled to appear in Vernon court in the matter on Thursday, while his initial charges in the incident remain pending. He will next appear in court on the other charges at the end of the month. Dergez has a criminal record dating back to 2003 in Vernon, Penticton, Kelowna, Abbotsford and Fort St. John. He is currently incarcerated at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Center after being recently transferred from Oliver’s Okanagan Correctional Center in late August. In a letter sent to Castanet from prison, dated September 9, 2022, Derguez says he has spent more than 100 days in segregation since his arrest last September, including 32 consecutive days. He claims he was held in segregation to “torture a confession or plea deal out of me.” “A year of harassment, torture and torture in every way they can in here,” Dergez says in his letter. “There seems to be no hope or help and BC Corrections are above the law and can continue to do as they please without legal recourse or repercussion.” He notes that he attempted suicide while in prison “as a result of incessant torture.” He also says he has been through four different lawyers so far and has been unable to appoint a new lawyer through legal aid, believing he has been “blacklisted”. Derguez makes no mention of the charges against him in his letter. And while he has previously said he wants to sue the RCMP for the alleged assault on him during his arrest, it appears no lawsuit has been filed at this time.
