Tuesday, July 28, 2009

'Not gonna go!' / Boy, 7, drives away in family car to skip church

CARLOS MAYORGA
Standard-Examiner staff

PLAIN CITY -- Maybe he also missed the day the sermon covered the Eighth Commandment: Thou shalt not steal.

A 7-year-old boy led officers on a car chase Sunday through Weber County in an attempt to avoid going to church, authorities say.

"Most kids fake illness," said Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint Anderson. "They don't take the car out and go joy riding."

Dispatchers received reports of a child driving a vehicle recklessly near 4100 West and 1975 North around 9 a.m.

The motorist who called in the complaint followed the child and witnessed the boy drive through a stop sign at 4700 West, Anderson said.

Two deputies caught up with the boy a few blocks away and attempted to stop the car, but the child kept driving, Anderson said.

The boy drove through a parking lot, then went south on 4700 West before driving the family's white Dodge Intrepid into a driveway on the 5000 block of 1500 North. The driver reached 40 mph and ran stop signs along the way, Anderson said.

The boy reportedly entered the home through the garage and ran upstairs. When deputies questioned the child's father, he told them he had no idea his son had taken the car.

"They had to explain to him they had chased his car," Anderson said.

"The father confronted the kid, and the boy straight-up admitted he had driven it. When asked why he took the car, he said he didn't want to go to church."

The boy's father was told to make sure his car keys are kept where they are not accessible to children, and the child was lectured about the dangers of taking a vehicle out on the road, but authorities cannot do much else.

Police would not identify the family, as there would be no citations issued.

Anderson said the boy is too young to prosecute and that the boy's father won't be cited because he was unaware his son had taken his car.

For a 7-year-old, his driving wasn't too bad, Anderson said.

"He had a few near misses, but he didn't hit anything or crash."