Two New York children took their family’s Range Rover for a joy ride from New York to Delaware.
What We Know:
- The two children, aged 7 and 12, returned Monday night safely. They traveled on a five hour, 100-mile road trip from their New York home to Delaware. They were taken into custody after the older child attempted to buy cookies with his father’s credit card.
- According to the family’s surveillance video, the cousins left around 9 a.m. with the older boy in the driver’s seat and his younger cousin in the passenger seat.
- The police tracked the car and found the duo on the Verrazzano Bridge in New Jersey around 11 a.m. troopers flashed sirens, but the children sped off. Police decided to ease off the pursuit for the safety of the children.
- At 2:15 p.m., the older boy tried using his dad’s credit card to buy cookies at a nearby rest stop near the New Jersey-Delaware border. Police flagged the credit card, and the children were taken into custody shortly after.
- According to CBS New York, the younger cousin told authorities she had a good time, and her cousin drove well. The children evaded any accidents and are in good physical health.
- Neighbors were shocked to hear of the incident adding that the boy is usually supervised. Multiple neighbors weighed in on the event; Muhammad Irfan commented, “He’s a very nice kid. I’ve seen him. He just sits there at home with his family.” Another neighbor Justin Kellman said, “First of all, that’s very brave to get behind a car at 12. Not sure what’s going on, maybe some family issues, I don’t know what it is. If it’s a joyride that’s not safe at all.”
The reason behind the joyride is thought to be because of a social media challenge where you drive until you run out of gas. It is likely the children will not receive any charges against them. They will be taken to the hospital and precinct for evaluations and then returned to their families.
