Sheriff: Charges will be filed in balloon saga

AP on Yahoo ^ | 10/17/09ap | Dan Elliott - ap

[NormsRevenge]

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A Colorado sheriff said he was pursuing criminal charges in the case of a 6-year-old boy who vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a flying saucer-like helium balloon.

The boy's parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, met with Larimer County investigators for much of the afternoon, but Sheriff Jim Alderden didn't say who would be charged or what the charges would be.

Alderden didn't call Thursday's hours-long drama a hoax, but he expressed disappointment that he couldn't level more serious charges in the incident, which sent police and the military scrambling to save young Falcon Heene as millions of worried television viewers watched.

"We were looking at Class 3 misdemeanor, which hardly seems serious enough given the circumstances," Alderden said. "We are talking to the district attorney, federal officials to see if perhaps there aren't additional federal charges that are appropriate in this circumstance."

[JLS]

You certainly could be right. And I don’t know if the Sheriffs are elected their or not? If he has to run for reelection, I can see why he wants to cover his butt.

[PaleoBob]

They should just file the charges agianst themselves for wasting taxpayer money everyday on boondoggles as bad as this one that never get into the papers or on TV because they constitute “police business as usual.” Or maybe that should be “police state business as usual.”

[potlatch]

DRUDGE

BALLOON BUST: CHARGES EXPECTED

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/17/colorado.balloon.boy/index.html

Loon Balloon; We did this for a show;

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091017/D9BCRR780.html

[HiTech RedNeck]

I think civil damages are going to be more onerous than any criminal penalty. Plus there will be the public shame. Any publicity bid has backfired in his face knowing that he caused rescuers to go on a dangerous wild goose chase.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

That balloon cost beaucoup $$ to chase, thinking the child was aboard.

These assets were already paid for whether or not they were chasing balloons or eating donuts.

[aruanan]

Thank you, this is all just a micro-cosuam-metaphor for the bigger flying fiasco illustrated by the animation of the U F O / Joker poster.

Beyond bizarre, isn't it, the huffing and puffing going on over something so minor as this compared to the millions who swallow Barry whole without even a gag? Oh, would there be as much greater a reaction by the populace against Barry and his village as his actions are more egregious than the balloon "saga."

[HiTech RedNeck]

Eating the donuts is less dangerous... and certainly burns less fuel and incurs less wear and tear on the items and people concerned, as well as not tying up the resources in the event they are needed in some other emergency.

[Seruzawa]

Wow! Well, I’m sure mad at this family and there aren’t laws tough enough to give them life or 40 years or whatever our political masters think should be the punishment. So let’s pass another law so no one will do this again. Make the law real fuzzy so that any parent who reports their kid missing mistakenly is subject to forfeiture of all assets and parental rights. Oh yeah and make the law apply whether there was intent or not. This will mean more easier convictions for our tireless prosecutors.

There, that seems to be the level of law making in the USA these days.

[devolve]

.

Thanx potlatch

Chech-ing out yer lynx

[Humbug]

I hope you are right. Not sure about the public shame part though. A family that has their young kids perform a vulgar rap video on YouTube where one kid is shown sitting naked on a toilet at one point.....and a family that routinely burps, farts, throws up on tv............well i could be wrong but my guess is they have an extraordinarily high threshold to shame ; )

[potlatch]

Lol, and I'm still thinking about the comment I wrote.
Some think it's wrong to talk about this balloon hoax, but there are many who will criticize Michelle's clothes and shoes!

I say, using a child to pull of a hoax like this, is an important issue. Silly clothes aren't.

I hope those children grow up with SOME common sense anyway.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Yikes, I hadn’t even thought of the ipecac explanation, but Im afraid you’re right that it needs to be considered as a real possibility in this case.

[devolve]

.

And many civvie & military pilots get killed doing Search and Rescue work

$7000/hour for the Blackhawk chopper

$4000/hour for the other chopper

Balloon-Buffoon-Daddy has a mucho violent streak too - and is a sociopath

Balloon-Buffoon-Mommy told the cops and FAA:

“He is in a flying saucer! A flying saucer!”

When I heard that on FOX News Channel - It all quickly McChrystallized

Both parents are - Grifters

[StolarStorm]

Not everyone has a one track mind. They can be interested in this risky and abusive hoax AND be concerned about the Obama issues.

[Mila]

"Whatever CPS dishes out to these parents, they have it coming."

While watching the interview between the family and Wolf Blitzer, I mentioned to my husband that the demeanor of the children seemed oddly tense. I also noticed that the wife seemed somewhat quiet and perhaps a little cowed by her blowhard of a spouse. Considering everything that has transpired in the past few days, I don't doubt that CPS will at least investigate the family's situation.

[aruanan]

Not everyone has a one track mind. They can be interested in this risky and abusive hoax AND be concerned about the Obama issues.

You mistook the point.

[Tax Government]

The father's facial language in this image makes me ask: why is he grimacing? At the kid or at an adult, out of camera range?

[StolarStorm]

Not really. This is a tread about a hoax, not about Obama. Yet you kept harassing people about their interest in this story. People don’t need to be focused on Obama 100% of the time... that would be mentally ill.

[Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears]

In the video, the kid says “You said it was for a show.”

The normal thing would be for the father to say, “what are you talking about, son? Did you misunderstand the man’s question?”

Instead the dad is momentarily stunned and says, “Yeah.”

And the mom would have also asked, “What do you mean?” Instead she says “No” to the boy. Very telling.

This seems to be correcting the boy to stick to the story. 

Then the dad asks a bizarre question, apparently reeling from the boy’s answer.

“You didn’t come out?” what????!!! Everyone KNOWS he didn’t come out. The question the interviewer asked was WHY he didn’t come out. The father there seems to be very much disoriented and scrambling for thoughts.

The problem with these publicity hounds is that they didn’t prepare for the boy to be asked that question. And it backfired in a huge way.

[eartrumpet]

“Going into law enforcement means you have given up your right to opinions and you don’t have th right to have personal feelings about your job either.”

I take it you would complain if given a warning when stopped for speeding?