"Balloon" Boy's House Searched, Parents To Be Charged

"Balloon" Boy FOREVER! After yesterday's not-quite press conference where "Balloon" dad Richard Heene simply claimed again that Thursday's Fort Collins, Colorado runaway balloon was not hoax and offered a cardboard box for reporters' questions, the Larimer County Sheriff's office announced they were preparing charges against the Heene family. According to the Denver Post, "The sheriff did not give specifics, but he said the charges would probably be a Class 3 misdemeanor. False reporting is a Class 3 misdemeanor."

However, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden added that he "would talk to the district attorney and federal officials, including the Federal Aviation Administration, to see what other charges could be considered." On Thursday, a 20' by 5' flying saucer balloon escaped from the Heene family's backyard—allegedly with his 6-year-old Falcon onboard. However, when the balloon landed, there was no child and it turned out that little Falcon was in the garage attic the entire time. Adding to the mystery was Falcon's claim that it was "for a show" and his repeated puking on national TV, plus news that his parents had been shopping around a reality TV show idea about their family. Gawker spoke with a former assistant of Richard Heene's who strongly believes the entire episode was a hoax.

Richard Heene and wife Mayumi voluntarily met with investigators for a few hours yesterday. Afterwards, they stayed at a motel (where their three sons met up with them) while investigators searched their house and removed a number of boxes and computers.
Alderden is expected to have another press conference later today.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on October 18, 2009 10:59 AM

Comments [rss]

freddynyc

I'm sorry, but if this is getting 24 hour coverage from CNN it must be very newsworthy....

wiseguynyc

It doesn't relate to NYC, yes, but more more importantly: why is this news period? With all the important issues that the country faces - health care reform, unemployment, a still sour economy, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the list goes on - does this really merit such attention? This is at least the fifth or sixth post Gothamist has done on this silliness.

It's just another sign of the news media shirking its responsibility in favor of trivialities and entertainment values.

Spirit of 76

It's not trivial to press charges against someone who has committed fraud, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. The story should be reported so others may be dissuaded from perpetrating similar schemes.

wiseguynyc

Fraud like this is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Think about how much Wall Street has ran off with taxpayer money - in the tens of billions this year - and there you have a legitimate case.

I noticed this was the top story on NBC Nightly News tonight. A full nine minutes later they finally got to the battle against the Taliban in Pakistan. Sad how our once great networks have been drawn into these kinds of stories.

nurserachet

this is a freakin blog. If anyone *should* be covering this HILARIOUS story, it's a site like this. Go piss and moan somewhere else.

Steven

The media wouldn't report this news if people didn't care about it. Look at all the celeb gossips sites and how people know more about what their "favorite" celeb is doing than wars, politics, economy. It's really sad and pathetic, but true.

Just look at MTV with all the junk reality shows and same with E!. Problem is people don't think for themselves. Whatever the media feeds them they take it with a grain of salt.