Utah Highway Patrol
On Monday, a state trooper in Utah noticed an SUV on the highway swerving dangerously. Oddly, the vehicle was only going 30 MPH. The state trooper moved to pull the vehicle over, fearing that the driver was likely intoxicated.
Perhaps it was someone being irresponsible in a lease car, or a college kid out for a joyride. Little did the state trooper know there was a kid behind the wheel. A five-year-old kid.
After pulling the SUV over to the side of the road, the state trooper, Rick Morgan, cautiously approached the driver’s side window. Inside, he saw not some college kid, but an actual child. On the dash cam footage, Officer Morgan can be heard incredulously addressing the boy.
“How old are you? You’re 5 years old?” Morgan asks the young child. He continues, “Wow … Where did you learn to drive a car?” Morgan explained to reporters that the boy, while technically able to drive a car, did not seem to have much knowledge about how the vehicle worked. The state trooper had to help the child get the vehicle into park.
“He was sitting on the front edge of the seat so that he could reach the brake pedal to keep the car stopped while I was standing there,” Morgan explained.
According to the state trooper, the young boy was in his sibling’s care while his parents were away from home. Apparently, at some point recently, the boy got into an argument with his mother. He wanted a new Lamborghini, but his mother said no.
Apparently not one to take “no” for answer, the boy waited until his parents were gone to take the keys to their SUV. When he was pulled over, he told the state trooper that he was on his way to California. There, he explained, he would buy a Lamborghini. Bemused, the officer asked him how he’d pay for it.
The boy had three dollars in his pocket.
Thankfully, the odd incident didn’t hurt anyone. The boy is in no trouble. It will be up to the local prosecutor to decide if charges should be leveled against his parents.
Typically, in cases like these, charges could include child negligence or reckless endangerment.
The boy’s identity, and that of his parents, have been kept private. But we hope one day, when he gets his real driver’s license, he goes to California to get his Lamborghini.
