ENCINITAS, Calif. -- Several aircraft were hit by a laser while flying over Encinitas, including a sheriff's helicopter crew looking for the origin of the high-powered light beam, officials said Saturday.

Control tower officials at Palomar Airport called the sheriff's helicopter unit around 6:50 p.m. Friday with reports that several commercial aircraft had been hit with a laser, Deputy Darryl Kimball said.

The reports indicated the laser was near lighted baseball diamonds east of Interstate 5 about three or four miles north of the Del Mar Fair Grounds, Kimball said.

While checking the area, the sheriff's helicopter was also hit by the laser at least twice, Kimball said.

The second time the laser hit the helicopter, deputies were able to pinpoint the source as the northwest corner of the baseball park near the intersection of Lake Drive and Birmingham, according to Kimball.

Deputies on the ground responded and contacted several people, but no laser was found and no arrests were made, Kimball said

Kimball said shinning a laser at any aircraft is a state and federal felony. In a recent case, a couple in Kern County were sentenced to two years and 18 months in federal prison for shining a laser into the cockpit of a Kern County sheriff's patrol helicopter.