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5-year-old ticketed for driving uncle's car
By Doug Moore
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/24/2004
A 5-year-old East St. Louis boy slid into the driver's seat of his uncle's Cadillac Sunday afternoon, put on his seatbelt, turned the key and drove off.
But he didn't go far. Four blocks later -- with his mother in pursuit in her car -- the boy crashed the car into a fence.
He was not injured but police gave the boy tickets for driving without a license and without insurance.
Lenzie Stewart, chief of detectives, said the uncle had turned off the car when he came over to visit the boy's mom, Kia Haynes, in the 700 block of Post Place. But he left the keys in the ignition.
"Mother came out, saw him driving down the street, jumped in her car and pursued him and had him pull over to the side. When he did, he hit the fence," Stewart said.
Haynes called police after the crash and took responsibility for what happened. As a result, she was ticketed for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Stewart said.
Haynes and her son were not taken into custody but were instructed to meet Monday morning with police, and did. The prospect of jail scared the boy, but police wanted him to know that he has to be responsible for his actions, no matter how young, Stewart said.
"We hear of 14- and 15-year-old taking off in cars, but it's getting younger and younger," Stewart said. "Kids are watching television and when they're riding with you, they're watching everything you do."
By Doug Moore
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/24/2004
A 5-year-old East St. Louis boy slid into the driver's seat of his uncle's Cadillac Sunday afternoon, put on his seatbelt, turned the key and drove off.
But he didn't go far. Four blocks later -- with his mother in pursuit in her car -- the boy crashed the car into a fence.
He was not injured but police gave the boy tickets for driving without a license and without insurance.
Lenzie Stewart, chief of detectives, said the uncle had turned off the car when he came over to visit the boy's mom, Kia Haynes, in the 700 block of Post Place. But he left the keys in the ignition.
"Mother came out, saw him driving down the street, jumped in her car and pursued him and had him pull over to the side. When he did, he hit the fence," Stewart said.
Haynes called police after the crash and took responsibility for what happened. As a result, she was ticketed for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Stewart said.
Haynes and her son were not taken into custody but were instructed to meet Monday morning with police, and did. The prospect of jail scared the boy, but police wanted him to know that he has to be responsible for his actions, no matter how young, Stewart said.
"We hear of 14- and 15-year-old taking off in cars, but it's getting younger and younger," Stewart said. "Kids are watching television and when they're riding with you, they're watching everything you do."
