And his sister came along for the wild ride.
We’ve covered many stories where tweens have stolen cars, including at gunpoint. But this is only the second time we’ve ran a story about a 10-year-old stealing his primary caretaker’s car to travel a long distance away. This time it happened in northern Florida and the kid took his 11-year-old sister along for a 200-mile ride in their mother’s car before police put an end to the impromptu road trip.
Watch a 12-year-old girl crash while trying to run from police.
Per Alachua County Sheriff, the kids from North Port were stopped on I-75 in the City of Alachua just before 4 am on September 21. Deputies had been alerted to the presence of the stolen car in the area, so when they spotted it they immediately conducted a high-risk stop. However, they got a shock when the 10-year-old driver stepped out to surrender.
Apparently, mom didn’t put two and two together, realizing it was her children who stole the car, even though the kids and vehicle disappeared at the same time. Perhaps she figured they didn’t know how to operate the sedan. Maybe the tweens Googled instructions?
The sheriff’s department didn’t provide many details about the incident, thanks in part because there are kids involved and also because the mom opted to not press charges. But what deputies were able to ascertain was that the brother and sister were upset that their mother took away their electronics after they “were not using them appropriately.” Use your imagination about what that might mean because we get zero elaboration.
In speaking with the children, deputies concluded the mother wasn’t mistreating her kids, so they turned both back to her custody. We wonder if they’ll ever get those electronics back now.
Raising kids can be tough, but when one or more shows a proclivity for stealing and/or running away because of reasonable boundaries, that’s where extra help is probably needed. In this case it sounds like the sheriff’s department pointed the mother to some additional resources which hopefully will help to avoid a repeat.
Images via Alachua County Sheriff
