Boy, 5, pulled over by police after stealing mum's SUV so he could buy a Lamborghini
California dreamin’
LAMBORGHINIS are the dream cars of children (and adults) the world over. Kids of the seventies dreamt of the Miura, eighties kids of the Countach, millennials of the Diablo and gen Z of the Murcielago. But few pre-schoolers decide to actually buy one, let alone drive their family car across the country to do so.
That’s what one five-year-old boy from Utah attempted, though. After his mum refused to buy a Lamborghini that he had spotted was up for sale in California, he put $3 in his pocket and grabbed the keys to his parents’ SUV before hitting the road.
The journey would have taken a whopping 11 hours but the boy was pulled over not long after leaving home by Utah Highway Patrol. The car was spotted weaving across lanes on Interstate 15 at approximately 30mph.
The fact that the boy was aware of what to do when told to stop by police, and able to do it without crashing, is remarkable.
One of our Troopers in Weber Co. initiated a traffic stop on what he thought was an impaired driver. Turns out it was this young man, age 5, somehow made his way up onto the freeway in his parents' car. Made it from 17th and Lincoln in Ogden down to the 25th St off-ramp SB I-15. pic.twitter.com/3aF1g22jRB
— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) May 4, 2020
In footage of the incident (top), Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) officer Rick Morgan is heard asking, “How old are you? You’re five years old?”
“Wow… okay… where did you learn how to drive a car?” he adds, before learning the child was en route to California.
The child had driven from 17th Street and Lincoln Ave., in Ogden, Utah, to 25th street, a distance of over two miles.
UHP reported that it initially thought the SUV was being driven by an impaired driver, so it was doubtless a surprise for the officer when he approached the vehicle. Morgan told KSL-TV that the child was sitting on the edge of the seat with his foot on the brake pedal to keep the car stopped, and that he had to help the child to put the car into park. The SUV can be seen creeping forward at one point during the traffic stop.
Ninety-six percent of cars in North America have automatic transmissions, which makes it easier for someone who has never driven before to take the wheel — broadly, one can simply start the car, shift the gear lever into “drive” and roll away. In the UK and across Europe, drivers have traditionally favoured manual transmissions, or “stick” in American speak, though auto ‘boxes are becoming much more common.
Police are now debating whether or not to file charges against the child’s parents, who had left him in the care of a sibling.
They’d do well to keep an eye on him, as a new Lamborghini is slated to be announced this Thursday, May 7. It won’t be an entirely new model, as the supercar maker has said not to expect an all-new model until mid-decade, though we’re willing to guess it’ll cost a little more than $3.
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