Charges to be pressed against balloon boy family

[tangerine911S]

The family of the boy who was thought to be in the balloon that drifted away is likely to have charges pressed against them for this hoax. GOOD!

[m21sniper]

Agreed.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Damn straight. They should also be forced to pay back every dollar of taxpayer money that went towards the "rescue" effort. Freaking pathetic, in every sense of the word.

[Rick Lee]

I agree too, though I doubt they'll do any jail time. I watched the press conf. yesterday and the sheriff said they were trying to compute all the man hours used in the search to stick them with restitution. I don't get this. Everyone involved in that search is a salaried gov't. employee who would have been paid exactly the same whether they were writing parking tickets, eating donuts or chasing that balloon. Maybe the helo fuel could be considered extra. But I don't know why these guys are responsible for gov't. employees' salaries if we're not charging all criminals for every dime it took in man hours to catch AND convict them. Of course, that would encourage slow investigations. I'd love to see them punished and harshly. But I think it's a pretty bad precedent to say it cost $X million for some law enforcement action, when the taxpayers would have been out just about the same amount of money had that incident never occurred.

[legion]

I was off the grid for a week (hanging out in Rick Lee's old stomping grounds).

Is there a Cliff Notes version of the story?

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by legion

I was off the grid for a week (hanging out in Rick Lee's old stomping grounds).

Is there a Cliff Notes version of the story?

Guy makes big UFO shaped balloon, kid gets in and goes for a ride at 7k feet... Kid turned out to be hiding in the garage.

See the CO boy floats away thread.

You had to be hiding under a pretty big freaking rock to not hear about this

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I agree too, though I doubt they'll do any jail time. I watched the press conf. yesterday and the sheriff said they were trying to compute all the man hours used in the search to stick them with restitution. I don't get this. Everyone involved in that search is a salaried gov't. employee who would have been paid exactly the same whether they were writing parking tickets, eating donuts or chasing that balloon. Maybe the helo fuel could be considered extra. But I don't know why these guys are responsible for gov't. employees' salaries if we're not charging all criminals for every dime it took in man hours to catch AND convict them. Of course, that would encourage slow investigations. I'd love to see them punished and harshly. But I think it's a pretty bad precedent to say it cost $X million for some law enforcement action, when the taxpayers would have been out just about the same amount of money had that incident never occurred.

I agree.

Jail time and community service is what I would give him.

Sorry guys, I just don't see the point. All its going to do is force him into BK and put him and his family on the street.

[Rick Lee]

I also heard the ACLU is defending them pro bono. Don't know if it's true or on what grounds they're doing it.

[on2wheels52]

A simple ass whipping might do some good.
Jim

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

Guy makes big UFO shaped balloon, kid gets in and goes for a ride at 7k feet... Kid turned out to be hiding in the garage.

See the CO boy floats away thread.

You had to be hiding under a pretty big freaking rock to not hear about this

I didn't hear about it until late Sunday night. I was in the middle of Dale Hollow Lake in Kentucky for 3 days on a houseboat with no cell service. Overall, I'm glad I didn't learn about this publicity stunt.

[Laneco]

They should be convicted of a crime and do community service.

That service should be search and rescue for children who are really lost and often not found at all or not found alive...

angela

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by gprsh924

I didn't hear about it until late Sunday night. I was in the middle of Dale Hollow Lake in Kentucky for 3 days on a houseboat with no cell service. Overall, I'm glad I didn't learn about this publicity stunt.

I am jealous of you and Legion. I don't get to crawl under my big rock until late November for Pheasant season.

[dad911]

Problem is their stunt probably cost us gov't millions, and their prosecution will cost millions more.

[jyl]

How will the prosecutor prove an intentional hoax? Young childrens' testimony usually not admissible. Wife and husband not likely to squeal on each other, and there's the martial privilege too. Absent a cooperating co-conspirator or a paper trail, what's the evidence?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by dad911

Problem is their stunt probably cost us gov't millions, and their prosecution will cost millions more.

Whatever the stunt cost that would not have otherwise been spent, yes, they should be on the hook for that. But almost all that money would have been spent on the same day on the same salaries, had this stunt never happened.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by jyl

How will the prosecutor prove an intentional hoax? Young childrens' testimony usually not admissible. Wife and husband not likely to squeal on each other, and there's the martial privilege too. Absent a cooperating co-conspirator or a paper trail, what's the evidence?

You can't know the evidence without knowing the evidence. None of us know what the prosecutor/authorities knows.

One could think of many possible pieces of evidence that don't involve direct testimony from the children, husband or wife.

[island911]

Personally, I dismissed this story once I saw the balloon. --NO WAY that little thing had a 70_lb payload. It moved like a leaf in the wind.


People are pissed for being so damn gullible, I suppose.

[Axeman]

Originally Posted by on2wheels52

a simple ass whipping might do some good.
Jim

+1

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

I am jealous of you and Legion. I don't get to crawl under my big rock until late November for Pheasant season.

Yea it was pretty nice. Fall break trip with 26 other members of the waterski team.

[legion]

I was in DC for a family wedding.

I ended up talking about guns the whole time with my wife's family. I also met some current/former CIA and Secret Service people. They were all pretty eccentric by my standards.