10-year-old boy driving with 11-year-old sister pulled over 4 hours from Florida home
A 10-year-old and an 11-year-old were stopped while driving alone four hours from their Florida home in an attempt to run away to California, police said.
At around 3:50 a.m. Thursday, deputies from Alachua County Sheriff's office spotted a white sedan that had been reported stolen driving on I-75 South in the City of Alachua, according to a Facebook post.
With the car reported stolen, police conducted what they initially thought was a "high risk" traffic stop, but were surprised when a 10-year-old boy, the driver, exited the car followed by his 11-year-old sister.
Officers learned the children had been reported missing in North Port, and the stolen vehicle belonged to their mother, the post states.
'At least I can collect my thoughts':Florida man stranded 12 miles out at sea recounts rescue
According to their mother, the girl was upset over having her electronics taken away Wednesday, North Port Police spokesperson Josh Taylor told USA TODAY. The mother noticed the car, the children, and some of their clothes were missing around 11:25 p.m, and notified the police shortly after. Taylor also said the kids planned to run away to California. Their identities are not being released at this time.
Alachua County Sheriff's department spokesperson Art Forgey said he wasn't sure how the kids knew how to drive, let alone well enough to make it more than 200 miles north.
"Apparently, they did a pretty good job of driving because they made it all the way from North Port and were actually getting back on the interstate going south when the deputy noticed the stolen car," Forgey wrote in a statement to USA TODAY.
After the stop, police contacted the mother of the children, at which point she got a ride with family to make the four-hour journey to pick them up. Forgey said she was relieved nothing bad happened during their ride.