New Details Emerge About Richard & Mayumi Heene

As the Sheriff’s Department in Larimer County, Colo. ramp up their case against Richard and Mayumi Heene over the Balloon Boy hoax incident from last week, new details have come to light about the couple.

Beyond their appearance on ABC’s “Wife Swap” and the helium balloon incident, which was allegedly set up as a means to get a reality show, the Heene parents actually had several financial problems, had an acting history together, had a 911 call history… and one of them even has an arrest record.

According to Denver’s 7 News, the couple met as aspiring actors at the famed Lee Strasberg acting school in Los Angeles, eventually forming a production company together.

And while in Southern California, Richard Heene ran into trouble with the law.

In 1997, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office filed three charges against him — misdemeanor vandalism, vehicle tampering and disturbing the peace – over an undisclosed incident. A rep for the City Attorneys Office told Access Hollywood that because they incident happened so long ago, they didn’t immediately have access to details of the case.

On April 15, 1997, Richard pleaded no contest to just one count of vandalism stemming from the incident.

Richard was placed on two years probation and ordered to serve 30 days in jail. He had to pay $100 restitution to the victim, who has not been named, as well. He served four days of his jail sentence and was placed under house arrest, according to the minute order obtained by Access.

And there were reported financial troubles for the Heenes as well.

There was a judgment against Richard for $5,000 in LA Small Claims court in 2006, 7 News reported. Additionally, the Heenes’ company – My You Me Productions – had $2,191 in tax liens levied against it between 2003 and 2006.

Also, in 1993, the state filed a $5,812 tax lien against Richard, 7 News reported.

Additionally, a landlord in Burbank told NBC News that Richard Heene left town in 2007, owing her $6,000 in unpaid rent.

And there were troubles in Larimer County too.

Earlier this year, in February 2009, Deputy Stephen Wicker in Larimer County responded to a 911 hang-up call at the Heene home, 7 News reported.

“As I approached the front door, I heard a male voice yelling quite loudly,” the deputy said in his report, according to 7 News. “I heard a female voice that sounded like a scream or a squeal.”

Mayumi then let the officer in.

“Mayumi had a mark on her cheek and broken blood vessels in her left eye,” the deputy’s report continued. “When asked what happened, she said, ‘I had a problem with my contacts.”

The District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges over lack of evidence.

On Monday, with charges expected within the coming days, the Heene household appeared quiet.

The three Heene children – including (Balloon Boy) Falcon, 6 — did not go to school.

Access has learned that Child Protective Services are investigating what could happen to the boys if the parents are arrested.

Criminal Attorney Rebecca Rose Woodland, who is not involved in this case, said losing their children is a real possibility.

“They’re facing felony charges, so they’re facing prison time,” she said. “A judge can sentence [the parents with anything from] prison time, to community service… And in addition, a Child Protective Services [person] could review this case from a family perspective and decide whether or not the children are in a fit home an the parents are fit to care for these children.”