9-year-old led police on a chase while trying to drive to school

OROVILLE, Calif. (KHSL) – A police officer in California had a shocking surprise when the car he was chasing came to a stop and found a 9-year-old boy behind the wheel.

“Several other officers showed up as well and it was kind of one of those ‘no one really believed it’ kind of things,” Officer Terry Dunn said. “So, several other officers showed up to the scene just to see in fact that it was a 9-year-old driving the vehicle.”

Dunn noticed a car stopped in the middle of an intersection and then announced over the PA system for it to move, which started a pursuit.

After making his way through a gas station and a dirt lot, the 9-year-old backed into Dunn’s patrol car.

“I exited my patrol vehicle, made an approach, and as I was approaching, I could see a kid which turned out to be a 9-year-old child sticking his head out saying, ‘I’m sorry, I was trying to get to school,’” Dunn said.

The boy’s school was right next door.

“At that point, we’re trying to identify, if that was the school he was actually heading to, we contacted the principal, we contacted the parent, and everyone showed up to the scene,” Dunn said.

Despite no one getting hurt, Dunn said this incident should serve as a lesson to keep car keys out of the reach of children and teach them the importance of driver safety and laws.

“Hopefully a lot of other people take this to heart and learn from it, so hopefully this doesn’t happen again in the future,” Dunn said. “Just maybe talk to your children about the dangers of driving a vehicle and what could possibly happen.”

Dunn said the boy made it to school after the whole situation.