Police in Utah pulled over a 5-year-old driver who said he was heading to California to buy a Lamborghini.
The boy was being watched by his 16-year-old sibling Monday when the teen took a nap, public information Officer Nick Street told USA TODAY. When the sibling woke up "the keys to the car were gone, the car was gone, and the child was gone," Street said.
The 5-year-old boy drove onto the freeway about 2 or 3 miles from his home in his parents' car, Street said.
Trooper Rick Morgan pulled the boy over after he saw the car swerving so badly on Interstate 15 in Odgen, Utah, that he thought the driver was impaired or needed medical attention. He was driving 32 mph in an area with a speed limit of 70 mph. Morgan told the Associated Press that the boy did not respond to his lights but pulled over when he hit his siren.
“I approached the vehicle and I was expecting to find somebody who needed an ambulance or paramedics,” Morgan said.
But when the window came down, Morgan said it was pretty clear that it was “a very underaged driver who was behind the wheel.”
The boy was sitting on the edge of his seat to reach the brake pedal, the trooper said.
Street said the boy was "was pretty shy and he appeared solemn" after being pulled over.
Dash camera footage of the traffic stop shows Morgan pulling over the SUV and questioning the driver.
"How old are you? You're 5 years old?" Morgan says in the video. "Wow, OK. Where did you learn how to drive a car?"
The boy told the trooper he was planning to drive to California to buy himself an Italian luxury sports car.
"He might have been short on the purchase amount, as he only had $3 dollars in his wallet," the Utah Highway Patrol said
in a statement on Twitter.
The boy's parents were contacted and they took custody of their son and the vehicle.
No one was hurt Street said, but the police are in contact with the Weber County attorney's office to determine whether to file charges against the boy's parents. Street said it's not unusual to find 13- or 14-year-olds behind the wheel, but it was "very strange" to see a child that young driving.
"It's the first time I’ve ever seen something with a child that young," Street said.
www.latimes.com
