A man who aimed a laser pointer at Marine One, the presidential helicopter, as it was departing the White House on Saturday with President Trump aboard was charged with a felony on Monday, the authorities said.

The man, Jacob Samuel Winkler, 33, of Washington, D.C., was standing on the sidewalk on Constitution Avenue when a uniformed Secret Service officer saw him shine a red laser beam at the president’s helicopter, a criminal complaint said.

The helicopter was at a low altitude and was flying toward the Washington Monument during its initial ascent from the South grounds of the White House on a path that took it over the park known as the Ellipse, the authorities said.

Investigators said that Mr. Winkler’s actions “posed a risk of flash blindness and pilot disorientation,” especially “during low-level flight near other helicopters.”

“This placed Marine One at risk of an airborne collision,” the criminal complaint said.

Mr. Winkler was charged with pointing a laser at an aircraft, a federal felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. In addition to a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for a conviction, offenders can be fined up to $32,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration.

A federal public defender representing Mr. Winkler did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

When the episode occurred on Saturday evening, Mr. Trump was en route to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia estate, to give a speech to the American Cornerstone Institute, a group founded by Ben Carson.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

“This behavior endangers Marine One and everyone on board,” Jeanine Pirro, the United States attorney for Washington, D.C., said in a statement on Monday. “If you engage in this act, you will be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Federal authorities have sought to crack down on what are known as laser strikes on aircraft, which they have said can incapacitate pilots and put passengers at risk. In 2025, 5,913 of them have been reported across the nation, six of which have caused injuries, according to the F.A.A.

The F.A.A. referred questions about the episode on Saturday to the Secret Service, which did not immediately provide a comment on Monday.

Moments before aiming the laser at Marine One, Mr. Winkler pointed it at the uniformed Secret Service officer, causing him to be briefly disoriented, the complaint said. Mr. Winkler appeared to have done so in retaliation for the officer pointing his flashlight at him, according to the complaint, which said that the officer was trying to observe him because he was being loud, talking to himself and did not have a shirt on.

When the officer placed Mr. Winkler in handcuffs, he got on his knees and repeatedly told the officer, “I should apologize to Donald Trump,” the complaint said.

While being interviewed by the authorities, Mr. Winkler admitted that he had shined the laser at Marine One and said that he was not aware that it was illegal, according to the complaint.

“He said he points the laser at all kinds of things, such as stop signs,” it said.