A person who was suspected to be a drunk driver, driving erratically in Crestview, Florida, was a youngster, a 9-year-old boy who was completely sober. According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff, that was not even half of the story. A pedestrian intervened and pulled over the 9-year-old after he drove an adult man home.
Police reports show that the incident happened on Sunday, October 9. At around 8 a.m., a witness saw the car being driven recklessly and was concerned for the occupant and other drivers, so he called 911.
The sheriff’s office said the witness saw the vehicle driving on Oak Hill Road that morning and noticed that the person behind the wheel was a minor. He stopped the car, and instructed the 9-year-old boy to get into the passenger seat and drove the car into the parking lot at a convenience store.
When the police got there and started questioning the child, the boy told them that he was alone in the car and was on his way home after dropping a 22-year-old man home to a residence on Brickhill Court, which was seven miles from where the boy lives.
The boy had driven the vehicle for around three miles from where he dropped the adult off, before the witness noticed him and intervened.
When the police contacted the child’s mother, she said she had not noticed that the boy had left home.
The investigation led to the subsequent arrest of the 22-year-old man that the boy had driven home. Court records show that the Crestview man was arrested on October 10 and charged with child neglect without causing great bodily harm. He was also charged with marijuana possession of less than 20 grams.
When questioned about the incident by authorities, the man said that the decision to have the child drive him home was a mistake, without further elaborating. Police did not release information about the vehicle’s ownership or the relationship between the minor and the 22-year-old.
Eric Aden, Okaloosa County Sheriff, released a statement thanking the witness who noticed the child driving the car and intervened. He thanked the witness for preventing a potentially fatal accident involving a child.
In 2020, a five-year-old child was found driving on a highway in Utah. In that incident, the police officer who stopped the vehicle thought the driver was “impaired” but was shocked to find a five-year-old in the driver’s seat.
The trooper stopped the car after seeing it on the interstate going at a very slow speed and weaving in the left lane. He put his siren on, and the driver slowly pulled over.
The viral video of the trooper’s body cam showed an interesting conversation between the officer and the child. The shocked trooper asked the child where he had learned to drive and where he was headed. The boy then began explaining that he had run away from home after an argument with his mother when she refused to get him a Lamborghini. The boy told the officer that he had decided to go and buy the luxury car himself even though he only had $3 in his pocket.
