10-Year-Old Boy In Stolen Car Leads Ohio Police On High-Speed Chase [Video]
A 10-year-old boy from the Westlake, Ohio area led police on a high-speed chase along Interstate 90 on Thursday morning. The boy driving the 2004 Toyota Avalon raced and swerved down the Ohio highway through both Erie and Lorain counties while hitting speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour. The chase lasted for more than 60 minutes before the boy was stopped and detained.
The unidentified 10-year-old Ohio boy was initially chased along the road by another car that may have been driven by his mother, Fox News reports. Westlake police officers were notified about the high-speed chase by a man who called 911 after he saw the stolen vehicle driven by the boy swerve across the Ohio interstate.
Ohio police officers followed the speeding Toyota Avalon for at least 15 miles until the 10-year-old boy was forced to slow down to get through a toll booth at the entrance of the Ohio Turnpike. Four Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers engaged in a rolling roadblock maneuver to try to pen in the 10-year-old boy while following him for about another 20 miles.
The Ohio boy eventually slowed down significantly and hit a berm when trying to maneuver around “stop sticks” that had been placed on the highway. At this point, one Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper was able to push the stolen vehicle into a mile marker post while another pulled ahead and blocked the boy’s path.
10-year-old Ohio boy leads police on highway car chase for the second time in a month. https://t.co/0ecCHKzKoJ pic.twitter.com/HnRkr8JTrK
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Ohio Highway State Patrol Sergeant Tim Hoffman told the press it was “very lucky” that no one got hurt during the 10-year-old boy’s joyride. According to a report by WEWS News, the boy spit at the police officers and kicked one in the chin as he was being arrested and taken into custody.
https://youtu.be/8yYD8ViVD7o
The 10-year-old boy was transported to a local northern Ohio hospital by his legal guardian for evaluation. He will be at least temporarily placed in the custody of the Erie County Children’s Services. Criminal charges have not yet been filed against the child in relation to the high-speed chase on Interstate 90. Ohio State Highway Patrol officials said the law enforcement agency will confer with the county prosecutor’s office about charging the minor.
The Ohio boy said he stole the family car and raced down the highway because he was “bored,” according to local news reports. This is not the first time the 10-year-old boy stole a car. Earlier this month the child reportedly stole his mother’s Dodge Charger and took it for a drive.
After the 10-year-old boy stole his mother’s car, he was moved into his father’s home, News5 Cleveland reports. Christopher Hampton, the boy’s father, told local reporters his son thought the car chase was just a joke and since he got away with it before, he thought he would go ahead and do it again. It was his father’s car that the boy stole this time.
“I was terrified, I didn’t think it was true,” Cheyenne Greene, the sister of the 10-year-old boy, said. “We all say the same thing to him. It just goes in one ear and out the other.”
Hampton told his son that he knew stealing the car and driving it was wrong and that he could have hurt or killed himself or someone else. The family of the 10-year-old boy also reportedly believes he was perhaps inspired to steal cars and drive wildly by playing video games like Grand Theft Auto.
[Featured Image by fujji/Shutterstock]
