Charges expected in Colorado balloon case
CNN) -- Authorities in Colorado say criminal charges are expected to be filed against Richard Heene, a storm-chasing father whose giant Mylar balloon ascended into the sky earlier this week, sparking fears that his 6-year-old was aboard.
We do anticipate at some point in the future, there will be some criminal charges filed with regards to this incident," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said.
"What those charges may be, as I stated yesterday, what we we're looking at is Class 3 misdemeanor, which hardly seems serious enough given the circumstances," he said.
The saga captured the nation's attention early Thursday afternoon, after authorities reported the family's homemade helium balloon was set adrift, apparently with young Falcon Heene inside.
Rescuers from several counties followed the silver, saucer-like vessel as it raced across the Colorado sky until it made a soft landing some 90 minutes later in a field 90 miles away.
The boy later came down from an attic above the family's garage.
Alderden said the department wanted to consult federal officials to see if more serious charges may apply.
"We certainly want to talk to FAA officials and federal officials to see if perhaps there aren't additional federal charges that would be more appropriate in the circumstances than what we're able to do locally."
Alderden said Heene and his wife came in Saturday voluntarily for police interviews.
Alderden said Friday that they planned to re-interview the family as speculation mounted that the incident was staged.
"We feel it's incumbent on us as an agency to attempt to re-interview them and establish whether this is in fact a hoax or actual event," he said.
"We believe at this time that it's a real event."
The development comes on the same day that Heene emerged from his Fort Collins house and offered a cardboard box for the media to submit questions.
"I got people e-mailing me, calling me; they've got a lot of questions, and I don't know how to quite frankly answer any of them other than I've got a box," Heene said around 10 a.m.
He said he'd answer the questions later Saturday night.
"I'm going to place the box up front. Please write your questions down," he said. "I have no idea what the news are saying. I don't have cable."
Heene did answer one question shouted out from a reporter, responding that the runaway balloon incident was "absolutely no hoax."
Speculation began to mount over whether the incident was staged after the family appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Thursday night.
Heene asked Falcon why he had not come out from hiding when his parents were calling for him.
"You guys said we did this for the show," the boy said.
Heene said his son was confused when he made the "show" remark. There were media assembled on the front lawn asking all sorts of questions, and that's what Falcon was referring to, Heene said.
He probably did give the balloon kid some syrup of Ipecac, or the kid had probably been so reamed out by the dad after the Larry King interview, that he got sick just at the though of having to answer anyone again. 
.
I'm sure he'd figure they'd bring a news camera along, too. 
