Sheriff seeks to press charges in balloon boy saga

A SHERIFF has said he was pursuing criminal charges in Colorado’s “balloon boy” saga, which first sparked fear for the child, then relief and now suspicions of a hoax.

Deputies searched the home of the boy’s parents on Saturday night, carrying away several boxes and a computer.

The parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, met with Larimer County investigators for much of Saturday afternoon amid lingering questions about whether he perpetrated a publicity stunt when his six-year-old son Falcon vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a helium balloon.

But Sheriff Jim Alderden didn’t say who would be charged or what the charges would be. His deputies later showed up at the Heene Fort Collins home with a search warrant and at least three of them began a search. Sgt Ian Stewart declined to say what they were looking for.

Alderden didn’t call Thursday’s 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 misdemeanour, 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.”

Suspicion that the balloon saga was a hoax arose almost immediately after Falcon was found hiding in a cardboard box. Heene and his wife had said one of the boy’s older brothers said Falcon was aboard the homemade balloon when it took off.

Alderden initially said there was no reason to believe the incident was a hoax. Authorities questioned the Heenes again after Falcon turned to his father during a CNN interview Thursday night and said “you said we did this for a show” when asked why he didn’t come out of his hiding place.

Falcon got sick during two separate TV interviews Friday when asked again why he hid.

The Heenes have said the balloon was supposed to be tethered to the ground when it lifted off, and no one was supposed to be aboard.

A video of the launch shows the family counting down in unison, “3, 2, 1,” before Richard Heene pulls a cord, setting the balloon into the air.

“Whoa!” one of the boys exclaims. Then his father says in disbelief, “Oh, my God!” He then says to someone, “You didn’t put the [expletive] tether down!” and he kicks the wood frame that had held the balloon.