In a bizarre turn of events, police in Lapeer, Michigan, responded to a call from concerned drivers on M-24 who reported a vehicle driving erratically. The callers described the driver as a 6-year-old boy, and their suspicions were confirmed when officers arrived at the scene. Sgt. Andy Engster of the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department explained that by the time police arrived, two other drivers had already boxed the young boy into a turnaround. One of them reached into the window and pulled the keys out of the ignition.
The boy had taken the keys off the counter at home and told the responding officer that he had never driven before and nobody had taught him how. He said he’d never even sat on his dad’s lap to steer the car or anything. The incident occurred at 7:30 a.m. just south of the I-69 entrance ramp. When police asked the boy why he took the car, he told them he was going to get Chinese food. He had hit a “no left turn” sign on Park and Pine streets near his home and, seeing the damage to the car, decided he needed to head to the dealer to get it repaired.
The boy’s father was called to the scene and arrived to pick up his son. He said he was asleep and didn’t even know his son was gone.
With the boy’s father’s permission, the officer, who was impressed by the boy’s admirable attempt to drive the car to the repair shop, let the boy drive his police car for a few minutes, yelling a few tips to the boy from the curb as he passed by.
Okay. No, that last part didn’t happen… but it would be funny if it did.