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11-Year-Old Car Thief Goes on Joy Ride

Albany, N.Y., kid takes police on chase after finding keys in cupholder.

By Claire_Martin Feb 21, 2012 12:34PM
(Above: a report on a similar underage car-theft arrest in South Carolina two years ago.)

When police first spotted the 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis coming in hot through the small town of East Greenbush, N.Y., last week they knew it had been stolen, but they didn't see anyone behind the wheel. They thought they had a particularly sneaky thief on their hands: "The driver had either leaned over or had slid down in the seat so he couldn't be seen," East Greenbush Police Chief Christopher Lavin told local television station WNYT. But when they apprehended the driver, it turned out he may simply have had trouble seeing over the wheel of the 15-foot-long, 2-ton car -- because he was 11 years old. 

This wasn't the Grand Marquis Bandit's first brush with the law. Two weeks earlier, he'd been arrested for breaking into cars in Albany and stealing $240 from a frame shop. The arresting officer in that case observed the boy behaving like a seasoned criminal: "The way the kid would look out for police, the way he was quickly checking the door handles," Albany police spokesman James Miller told the local newspaper, the Times Union. "[It was] like he had done it 100 times before." He may also have had prior experience behind the wheel -- his route from Albany to East Greenbush, seven miles away, took him over the Hudson River on Interstate 90. No small feat for such a young driver.

Once police had him in their sights, a short chase ended with a swarm of patrol cars descending on the Grand Marquis. Police then reportedly recovered stolen wallets and cell phones from inside the car. The driver, whose mom eventually came and picked him up, faces charges of burglary, possession of stolen property and petty larceny for his first arrest and criminal possession of stolen property for the car theft. His case will be handled in juvenile court.

The incident harks back to a similar arrest in South Carolina in 2010 when another 11-year-old boy stole two cars in a week's time. That kid made off with an SUV and a fire department truck after having found the keys to the vehicles inside them. He led police on chases both times. His motivation? He was simply tired of walking, he reportedly told police.
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3Comments
Rex Allen
Apr 25, 2012 12:20PM
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11 years old = aslap on the hand and told :don't do it again:
Zerlak
Feb 22, 2012 4:53PM
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Forcing everyone into a manual isn't the way to solve anything. People should always have more choices, not fewer.
Had it in CA
Feb 22, 2012 6:27AM
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Well, here it is guys.  We can use this story to motivate lawmakers to mandate that all new cars be equipped with manual transmissions.

 

It's doubtful he could have stolen it if he actually had to drive it!

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