05:30 PM PST

DEBORAH FELDMAN 

KING 5 News

02/12/ 09

Toddler drives car into building

TACOMA, Wash. – A four-year-old boy went on a wild ride in his mom’s parked car after he managed to slip it into gear all by himself.

It happened Thursday morning at 38th Street and South Tacoma Way.

Police say the mother and her boyfriend left the boy in his car seat in the back seat as they went into a Money Tree payday loan store. The mother took the keys with her.

Somehow, the little boy unbuckled himself, climbed into the front and put the car in neutral.

The car went rolling backwards, out of the parking lot and onto a very busy 38th Street. The car did a big U-turn and ended up crashing through the front of a CompuCare store.

"First thing I did was thank God we weren't open yet because, usually, there's someone sitting by the window that the kid ran through,” said assistant manager Jeremy Franklin.

A salon next door was open and employees there heard everything.

"We heard just like this crashing sound. And like glass shattering and stuff,” said salon worker Rachael Long.

They ran outside and saw the 1995 Cadillac with a little boy inside who just wanted out.

"He just jumped out of the car, jumped into her arms, and is just sobbing,” said Long.

Tacoma Police say an officer is still writing up a report and that it is illegal to leave a child unattended inside a vehicle.

The Department of Social and Health Services says it doesn’t think it has had any contact with the family before, but it will look into the incident.