Posted on 04/12/2002 2:22:38 PM PDT by LarryLied
He hops in a car, picks up a friend and drives to school. "It's not something we encourage,'' says a deputy.
TEMPLE TERRACE -- After he missed the bus Thursday morning, a second-grader hopped behind the wheel of a black 2002 Ford Focus, picked up a friend and headed off for elementary school.
"He said he was running late," said Temple Terrace police Capt. Tracy Mishler.
The 8-year-old, who could barely see above the dashboard, left his home at the Brentwood Place Apartments off Busch Boulevard and crossed at least one and possibly two major intersections on 56th Street during morning rush hour traffic.
He turned onto a winding two-lane residential street, maneuvering past one stop sign and two speed bumps before ending up at Riverhills Elementary School, 1 1/2 miles from home.
Along the way, the boy passed a busload of schoolmates. Finally, he steered the car into the faculty lot next to the school and parked.
Just as the 8 a.m. bell rang, police said, he and his friend made it inside.
But before lunchtime, news of the child driver had students, parents, teachers and police shaking their heads, asking questions and thanking their lucky stars no one was injured.
"When I heard it, I was like, "Whoa,' " said fourth-grader Kamaria Powell, 10. "How could a second-grader know how to drive? I thought maybe he'd be like a third grader or something."
"It's not every day you have an 8-year-old driving a car," Mishler said. "Obviously, it's not something we encourage."
Riverhills teacher June Young called it one of the most amazing things she had seen in her 30-year career.
"What do you say about a child like that?" she said. "Do you congratulate him or something else?"
School officials, who did not name the boy because of his age, suspended him for up to 10 days for endangering himself and others. No charges were filed, and no arrests were made.
Investigators said that sometime before the boy took the car, it had been reported stolen while en route to Bill Currie Ford, where it was to be sold. Authorities said they were unsure how the car ended up at Brentwood Place or how the boy got access to the keys.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is investigating the car theft, and Tampa police are looking into a stolen tag that was placed on the car.
The boy's uncle, 18-year-old Darrick Wilford, in jail since Tuesday charged with trying to steal a vehicle from a local bowling alley, had been teaching the boy to drive the Ford for about a week, Mishler said.
Mishler said neither the boy nor his mother knew the car was stolen.
School system spokesman Mark Hart said the boy didn't appear to realize the danger of his drive when questioned by authorities.
"He wanted to show off to his friends," Hart said.
It was the boy's bragging, Mishler said, that gave it all away. One of his classmates told his teacher, who reported it to the principal. Police were called, and the boy admitted it.
"He had tears in his eyes when he talked about doing it," Hart said. "He understood what he did was wrong."
Other parents said they were shocked that a second-grader would know how to drive.
"Where were his parents?" asked Kim Sleeper, whose 5-year-old daughter Erin attends Riverhills. "That's my only question. My daughter doesn't even know how to open a car door."
Tina Nonoyama, 27, called the excursion scary and amazing at the same time.
"It is pretty impressive that a second-grader would know how to do that and know where he was going," she said. "At least he was going to school."
Riverhills teacher Esther Alexander said she will use the incident as a teaching tool for her students.
"We will talk about it," said Alexander. "And I'll tell them this is something you shouldn't do."
Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at melanie@sptimes.com.
BTW, they bought a car with their father's approval to come home. (They earned money by appearing in newsreels.) Very few cars on the then existing roads and travel was much less hurried than now.
Lot's of twists to the current story, but I still lean towards thinking the suspension is overkill.
This crap of waiting until kids are 16, or 18 to learn to drive is so bogus. The earlier they learn, just like reading, the better it is for all of us, and them. JL
For some reason, I just love that line.
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