Photo: Alachua County Sheriff / Courtesy
Authorities reported that Two children were stopped on a Florida highway for taking their mother’s car for a ride after she took away their electronic devices.
The agents detained the couple, a 10 year old boy and an 11 year old girlaround 3:50 a.m. Thursday while traveling in his mother’s sedan on Interstate 75 in Alachua, Florida, about 16 miles north of Gainesville, Alachua.
The boy was driving, the county Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Both They took a three-hour drive north from their home in North Port, Florida.after they fled because their mother confiscated their electronic devices, the office said in a follow-up statement Friday.
The parents reported him missing, according to authorities.
When officers saw the sedan, which had been reported stolen, they stopped it and ordered the people out of the vehicle at gunpoint.
“To their surprise, deputies observed a 10-year-old driver exit the vehicle, along with his 11-year-old sister,” the sheriff’s office said.
The two were handed over to the mother and They were unlikely to face charges as the mother did not want to make allegations that the vehicle was stolen.the office said.
Police said no criminal charges could be recommended after the mother refused to pursue the stolen vehicle case.
The driver could have been charged with driving without a license, the sheriff’s office said, but it is a minor traffic violation and would not lead to detention in a juvenile facility.
“Our detectives spoke at length with his mother. “She was clearly doing her best to raise two young children and she was very receptive to the recommendations they provided to help her get help,” the statement added.
Police said the children spoke with both officers and detectives and those conversations did not lead to the belief that the children were abused by their parents or anyone else within the home.
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