SAGINAW COUNTY, Mich. — The Michigan State Police released dashcam video of a chase along Interstate 75 in Saginaw County involving a 10-year-old boy driving a stolen vehicle, according to reports.
The 31-second clip was posted to the Twitter account of MSP Third District on June 2, with a note, saying, “The Trooper was behind the suspect for about a mile with lights & sirens activated while OnStar disabled the Buick, allowing for a safe stop. Thankfully, nobody was injured in this incident.”
The agency also wrote, “The juvenile driver ran from the stolen car before they were taken into custody nearby.”
The dashcam footage shows a silver 2017 Buick Encore SUV, its hazard lights flashing, weaving across three lanes of southbound I-75 traffic the afternoon of May 27. (There is no sound in the video.)
The SUV had been stolen from a residence on Hess Avenue in Buena Vista Township on May 27 at approximately 1:40 p.m., said MSP Lt. Kimberly Vetter.
The SUV’s OnStar pinpointed the vehicle’s location and indicated it was traveling at a high rate of speed, mlive.com reported.
As law enforcement personnel responded, several motorists dialed 911 to report seeing the child recklessly driving down the highway, Vetter noted.
OnStar remotely disabled the automobile, causing it to slowly cruise to a stop with the youngsters steering it into a guardrail, Vetter said. The impact caused minor damage to the vehicle.
The diminutive child, who was shorter than 5 feet, fled into the nearby woods, but was soon captured by troopers. He told investigators that he had been staying with relatives, and took the car, which reportedly belonged to his mother, so he could visit her in Detroit, according to mlive.com.
The boy was processed at the Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center and later released. He faces charges that include single counts of unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle, fourth-degree fleeing and eluding police, and assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police. He is due in juvenile court on June 26.
