Laser-pointing teen at Cards game pleads guilty

He who would lase has been made to pay.

The teenager caught pointing a laser from a suite inside of Busch Stadium and causing a delay of a St. Louis Cardinals-San Francisco Giants game pleaded guilty in December, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had identified Erik Bogard, who was 17 years old at the time, as the one pointing a green laser at Giants pitcher Shane Loux on Aug. 5.

It should go without saying that laser pointers are dangerous. They can blind a person, or certainly distract one — exactly what we don't need in the middle of a baseball game.

The P-D writes of Bogard:

He pleaded guilty in municipal court Dec. 14 of disturbing the peace at an athletic event and was sentenced to serve six months on probation, complete 20 hours of community service and pay the Cardinals $500 in reimbursement for costs. Under terms of the suspended imposition of sentence, his record would become accessible only to law enforcement.

Another charge was dropped, and Bogard was subject to 30-day jail sentence and a $500 fine for disturbing the peace. If Bogard behaves himself until mid-June, the P-D adds, the public record of his arrest will be erased. The same cannot be said for this blog post or others like it.

In fairness to Bogard, as his attorney points out, others his party were responsible for bringing the laser pointer to the game, also pointing it on the field and trying to dispose of it after Matheny caught Bogard. He seems to have been the only one of them punished (though the guys in "Goodfellas" would pat Bogard on the back for not ratting out any of his lousy friends. So he's got that going for himself).

A so-called adult in the group, Marie Glancy, apparently quit her job at Mercy Health — the company that owned the suite — shortly after the laser incident. Glancy is the one, you might recall, who was called "uncooperative" by security (which also found unauthorized containers of alcohol inside of the suite). Tremendous supervision on her part. And she got off easy.

Next up for the Cardinals: Will right-hander Kyle Lohse ever be offered work again?

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