SUSPECT ARRESTED NOT ONLY ON SEVERAL CHARGES, POSSIBLE FACING FEDERAL CHARGES; INCIDENT HAPPENED WHEN KSP HELICOPTER WAS RETURNING AFTER PLAYING CRUCIAL ROLE IN MEDICAL EMERGENCY RESCUE OF ADULT TEENAGE MAN FROM THE RED RIVER GORGE AREA OF WOLFE COUNTY
AUGUST 26, 2026 – written by WADE QUEEN
SOMEONE IS IN BIG TROUBLE!: MARKUS RYAN SMITH, 39 OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.
A Fayette County, Kentucky man finds himself in a world of legal hurt after he was arrested after reportedly pulling a major stupid stunt that put an operational risk to a state police helicopter.
According to the Kentucky State Police (KSP) Post 12 in Frankfort in Franklin County, their troopers arrested a Lexington, KY. man after he allegedly pointed a laser at a KSP helicopter returning from a nighttime rescue mission at Red River Gorge on the early morning of Wednesday, August 25.
The incident occurred on August 25 at approximately 12:30 A.M., as the KSP Bell 429 aircraft was returning to Frankfort following a successful rescue at Red River Gorge. KSP pilots reported that a person riding a moped near West Loudon Street in Lexington pointed a laser at the aircraft.
KSP troopers and Lexington Police Department officers immediately responded to the area and located the suspect in an alley near North Broadway Street.
Troopers made contact with Marcus Ryan Smith, 39, of Lexington, and recovered the laser believed to have been used during the incident. Marcus Smith was charged with:
*LASER DEVICE/OTH DIRECT AT AIRCRAFT W/DISRUPT TRAVEL;
*TAMPERING WITH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE;
*NO OPERATORS/MOPED LICENSE,
*CRIMINAL TRESPASSING-3RD DEGREE;
*NO/EXPIRED REGISTRATION PLATES;
*NO/EXPIRED KENTUCKY REGISTRATION RECEIPT;
*FAILURE OF OWNER TO MAINTAIN REQUIRED INSURANCE/SECURITY 1ST OFFENSE.
Possible federal charges against Marcus Smith are pending. Marcus Smith was transported to and lodged in the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, where he still currently remains being held on a $1,500 full cash bond only.
KSP Post 12 Public Affairs Officer Andy Stepp said laser strikes pose a serious danger to pilots, flight crews, and people on the ground.
“Laser strikes can alter the intended flight path or cause temporary visual disturbances for the pilot and flight crew,” Andy Stepp said. “These are not harmless pranks. They violate federal law and can have dangerous consequences for everyone involved, both in the air and on the ground.
18-YEAR-OLD CAMPER RESCUED BY HELICOPTER FROM RED RIVER GORGE
The laser strike incident against the KSP helicopter happened not long after it played the main key part in a rescue of an 18-year-old camper experiencing a medical emergency was airlifted from Hanson’s Point in the Red River Gorge Tuesday night after rescuers determined a helicopter hoist was the safest way to reach him.
Wolfe County Search & Rescue says the camper was about 2.5 miles from the nearest trailhead in difficult terrain. Rescue crews hiked to his location and conducted an in-person medical assessment before requesting an aerial extraction.
The Kentucky State Police Aviation Unit responded, and a HART rescue specialist was lowered to the camper. The patient was secured in an aerial extraction device and hoisted into the helicopter before being flown to a nearby landing zone and transferred to EMS for transport to a hospital.
The operation involved Wolfe County Search & Rescue, Powell County Search & Rescue, Kentucky Emergency Management, Kentucky State Police Aviation, the HART team and Powell County EMS. The emergency units crews exited the trail system around 1:30 A.M., Wednesday morning, August 26.
