10-Year-Old Boy Drives To Store, Speeds Away In Police Chase
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FOSTORIA, Ohio (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — An erratic, speeding driver who led an Ohio officer on a brief pursuit turned out to be a 10-year-old boy who took his parents' car without permission and drove 11 miles to a nearby city to shop at a convenience store, police said.
An officer in Fostoria, about 40 miles south of Toledo, tried to stop a driver who wasn't using headlights and kept braking Sunday morning, and the vehicle took off at 70 mph, CBS television affiliate WTOL-TV reported.
Fostoria Police Chief Keith Loreno said the driver, "Almost lost control, almost made a head on with a semi truck tractor trailer... and then actually hit the curb causing some damage to the tire and the rim, so the car became inoperable."
After hitting the curb the driver stopped in a restaurant parking lot, where the officer was surprised to discover that the driver was a child. "It appears he wanted to go shopping," Chief Loreno told a local newspaper.
No one was hurt, but police said the boy jeopardized the safety of others in the area. "At one point, he far exceeded the speed limits of the city," Loreno said. "Besides himself, he placed a lot of people in serious danger."
The boy, from the nearby town of Kansas, was taken into custody and charged with fleeing from a law enforcement officer.
His parents haven't been charged, but juvenile court and children's services are reportedly reviewing the case.
Loreno told WTOL-TV that the tale should be a reminder to parents to store their car keys somewhere safe, out of the reach of curious children.
(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
