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Police: 7-Year-Old Drives Car To Visit Dad

CASEVILLE (WWJ/AP) - He was on his way to visit Dad. Police in Caseville are happy there are no injuries after a 7-year-old boy took his mother's car on a 20-mile drive.

Video provided by Huron County Sheriff's Office

Caseville Police Chief Jamie Learman said he was "dumbfounded" when he saw the boy his head barely above the steering wheel.

"We were following him, lights and sirens. He kept going off the side of the road. He would hit the gravel and almost lose control, and he would come back onto the asphalt. He appeared to be speeding up, and we were going about 50 (mph)," Learman told WWJ's Sandra McNeil.

"I passed him in an attempt to get passed him in an attempt to get in front of him, slow him down. When I went by him he looked at me and had tears just rolling down his face," Learman said.

Barefoot and in pajamas, Learman said the boy drove the Pontiac Sunfire for 20 miles before hitting the brakes.

He tearfully told police officers he just wanted to get to his father's home in Filion.

The boy was staying with his mother in Huron County's Sheridan Township, a rural area 110 miles north of Detroit. She had worked the night shift and was unaware her son and the car were gone.

Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said the prosecutor's office and child welfare officials are investigating.

The prosecutor "is going to want to know things like ... where did he learn how to drive?" Hanson said.

Learman said he's seen drivers under 15 but not someone this young.

"I'm just glad he didn't get hurt, and no one else got hurt. I can just imagine the stop signs and other things he didn't stop for. I'm just assuming a 7-year-old didn't follow the traffic laws," Learman said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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