7 Year old drives 20 miles with police in pursuit

T-Bolt

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Police release video of boy, 7, pulled over after driving 50 m.p.h. | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Barefoot and still in pajamas, the 7-year-old boy stood on the side of a Caseville road on Monday morning, crying and begging to see his dad.

Police say that as his mother slept, the boy drove his stepfather’s red Pontiac Sunfire more than 20 miles from Sheridan Township by himself to try to get there, hitting speeds of 50 m.p.h. with police in pursuit.

“I was hoping he wasn’t going to crash,” Caseville Police Chief Jamie Learman said. “A couple of times he went off the right side, onto the berm in the gravel, and the vehicle was fishtailing a little bit. When that happened, he seemed to be increasing his speeds.”

Learman sped up and passed the boy, as Huron County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Randy Britt helped box in the car.

“I slowed down, he slowed down and eventually stopped,” Learman said about the Sunfire. The boy had trouble pulling over on Kinde Road near Sturm. Then, with the car still running and in gear, he couldn’t get the car unlocked. The officers calmed him down through the window enough to tell him how to unlock the car, then Britt put the car in park.

“He was crying and just kept saying he wanted to go to his dad’s,” Learman said. “That was pretty much it: he just wanted to go to his dad’s.”

Investigators discovered the boy had left his Sheridan Township home at about 10 a.m., heading for his father’s home in Filion. They were alerted by a Rochester man who called 911 after spotting the boy behind the wheel near the Caseville Dairy Queen. The boy’s mother, who was sleeping and had left instructions for the boy to wake her at 10 a.m., did not know he was missing until contacted by police.

“She was frantic,” Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said. “I think we woke her up because she didn’t answer the first time. And when she called back, she was frantic. And when the deputy went down to pick her up and take her to the scene, she was pretty upset.”

The mother and boy immediately went to the county’s department of human services. The incident is also being reviewed by the Huron County Prosecutor’s Office, according to Hanson, who declined to identify the mother or son.

“If any charges are issued, (the prosecutor) is going to want to know things like that: where did he learn how to drive?” Hanson said, adding he did not know the answer to that question.

In his 11 years as chief of the Caseville Police, Learman said he’s never seen someone so young driving.

“Fifteen, 14, but never 7,” Learman said. “I’m just glad he didn’t get hurt, and no one else got hurt. I can just imagine the stop signs and other things he didn’t stop for. I’m just assuming a 7-year-old didn’t follow the traffic laws.”

My favorite part: where the mom asked THE KID to wake her up at 10.
 

Riddla

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Hopefully they throw the book at him and the mom. Flamesuit on

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oldmodman

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I don't feel that the mother committed any type of crime. It is not possible to watch a child every second of the day.

And I bet he learned to drive from playing "Grand Theft Auto San Andreas"
 

Vizior

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Probably fairly irresponsible to leave the keys where a kid can get at them, but at the same time asking a child to wake you at a certain time can give them a sense of responsibility. As far as criminal charges, I would think that a psychologist would have to be involved to see if the child knew the difference between right and wrong.
 

CobraBob

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I would doubt this 7 year old will face any charges. And the parent(s) will likely only be in trouble IF either actually taught him how to drive and allowed him to test drive with them. There are a few unanswered questions here. Thankfully the kid wasn't hurt nor hurt anyone else. That in and of itself is a miracle. I mean, this happened near noon. There had to be a fair number of cars on the road and potentials for a bad ending.
 

mblgjr

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I know it wasn't mentioned; but it's not a real big jump from driving a go-kart to a Sunfire really.

That'd be my story; lol.
 

ZFan88

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Powering out of fishtails at 7 years old. The force is strong with that one. If only he knew how to unlock a car..
 

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