Cedar Rapids Boy Steals Family Car, Crashes 4 Blocks Away

There is a phase that a lot of young kids go through where they threaten to run away from home. They pack up their backpacks with a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a beloved stuffed animal, and their Nintendo DS, but usually that is as far as it goes. A 7-year-old in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, however, decided to take it a huge step forward and steal his mom’s car for a quick getaway.

Last Saturday at around 9 a.m., the unnamed boy took his mother’s car keys and drove down 33rd Street to Edgewood Parkway. On a typical day, this area of Cedar Rapids is fairly busy with a movie theater, numerous restaurants, and a mall close by. Fortunately, he only got about a block down Edgewood before he crashed the car between a bank and a Wendy’s restaurant, and despite the state of the car, he did not sustain any serious injuries.

As of publication, it is uncertain what sort of punishment the boy will receive. He has been cited for a laundry list of violations and misdemeanors including driving without a license, failure to maintain control, hit-and-run, and no insurance. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that he has tried to get the car from his mom. Police Capt. Bernie Walther told ABC affiliate KCRG, “He has grabbed her keys before and tried to do this, but this is as far as he’s ever gotten.”

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