Follow Zap2it:
Balloon Boy: Criminal charges will be filed
The Balloon Boy incident has become increasingly bizarre and sordid."We anticipate criminal charges will be filed sometime in the near future," said Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden in a statement that was read on CNN Saturday night.
Although Aldernen did not specify what the charges would be, he did drop hints that a Class 3 misdemeanor was being considered, which would be consistent with charges for a false report. Aldernen also added that the charge "hardly seems serious enough given the circumstances" and that the Sheriff's office would be talking to the District Attorney and FAA officials to see if possible federal charges could apply.
The Larimer County Sheriff's department is still obtaining search warrants.
A press release is planned for sometime Sunday.
In other Balloon Boy news, Robert Thomas, who claims to be a former assistant who worked with Richard Heene, talked to Gawker in a paid interview. Thomas detailed how his interest in Heene's work led to a working relationship earlier this year.
During this time, Thomas became familiar with Heene, whom he said became obsessed with trying to get his family its own reality show after appearing on ABC's "Wife Swap" twice. Thomas helped outline a proposal for the show, which would feature experiments for each week of the year. One of the experiments included the creation of a weather balloon made to look like a UFO.
"We will capture the footage on film, and will utilize the media as a means with which to make our presence known to the masses," reads the proposal. "This will not only provide us with incredible footage, but will also generate a tremendous amount of controversy among the public, as well as publicity within the mainstream media. This will be the most significant UFO-related news event to take place since the Roswell Crash of 1947, and the result will be a dramatic increase in local and national awareness about The Heene Family, our Reality Series, as well as the UFO Phenomenon in general."
Check out Thomas' full interview, including the reality show proposal and emails exchanged between him and Heene at Gawker.
Story developing ...
Follow Zap2it on Twitter for the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.
Related:
Richard Heene does not make live 'announcement' in press conference
Balloon Boy family's reality TV dreams deflated
Balloon Boy throws up, dad denies hoax on 'Today'
Balloon Boy and family were on 'Wife Swap'
Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz
Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
Our Partners
This family is shameful. What a pathetic attempt to get on TV. They're so desperate to get a TV show, they'll stoop to any level. Who would watch them? They have nothing to offer except mental instability. Have you seen the footage of the dad on ABC's Wife Swap? Freaking nutjob right there! Jackhammer!
"Who would watch them? They have nothing to offer except mental instability."
I've asked the same thing about Jon & Kate Plus 8.
Somebody, quick, take Richard Heene's passport before he pulls a Roman Polanski and flees the United States!
Seriously, after the public spectacle and media circus of Octomom and Jon & Kate + 8, is anyone surprised that it has come to this? In fact, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. (I'm referring to a family trying to hop on the reality TV gravy train.)
I hope the cops do file charges and that this father gets slapped with a hefty fine. That would teach him a lesson and also, possibly, deter other wackos from trying similar stunts in the future. If people know that they may actually have to pay the authorities for the search and rescue, maybe they'd think twice before planning their scam.
I'd rather have Richard Heene be forced into bankruptcy than have him thrown in jail. While he's in jail he can plot another stunt and he'll still be on the media's radar, whereas as if he's not in jail but just flat broke, he'll be so ashamed that he'll stay out of public view.
I doubt he has any shame.
Haha. Same here, duhsquared. I've never understood the appeal of 'Whipped Wussy Boy and Mega Witch-With-A-B Plus Eight.' I watched one episode just to check it out and I was over it.
That would be a nice thought, IggyPop, but I don't think attention ****** like Heene possess that trait known as "shame."
This is just another example of how far the media in this country has fallen, in that they'll spend hours of news time following some insipid car chase or made-up balloon-with-a-kid-on-board-oh-wait-he's-in-the-garage baloney, rather than actual news of import. It's also an example of how jaded and/or idiotic many viewers of news channels have gotten that they would waste so much time caring about things that really don't matter all that much. The United States is not the only one guilty of this crap, of course, but since we're a larger country, it just seems like we're responsible for it all.
The kindergarten teachers running this site blocked my use of the word W...H...O...R...E...S in my previous post, in case somebody was wondering what the asterisks stood for. Gosh, it's so nice to be treated like children by the nice old ladies running Zap2It now. *sarcasm*