Another Case of Bad Step-Dad? Where Was Step-Dad Anyway?

Seven-year-old Mich. boy charged with driving car unlawfully

Jun 22 2011

(AP Photo/Huron County Sheriff Office)

In the photo Sheriff's Deputy Randall Britt cautiously approaches a car driven by a potentially dangerous 7-year-old boy Monday June 20, 2011 near Caseville, Mich. Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said the prosecutor's office and child welfare officials were reviewing the matter.

The 7-year-old pajama-clad boy who drove the car for 20 miles, sometimes hitting speeds of 50 mph, was charged Wednesday with unlawful use of a vehicle.

Some public officials called for his prosecution as an adult. "He's driving a car, that's an adult activity," said a Republican prosecutor looking for an easy conviction.

"What is it in this child's life that's stressing him that he leaves in a vehicle? What we don't want is to let this happen again," Prosecutor Rutkowski said. "There's something going on in his life."

Duh!! The boy told authorities that he drove off in his stepfather's car Monday to see his father, who also lives in Huron County, 110 miles north of Detroit. That's what's going on in his life! The courts snatched him from his dad and gave him to his mom and her new boyfriend, aka step-dad.


The boy reached speeds of at least 50 mph before police caught up with him. He stopped the car on a rural road where the speed limit was 55. He did not exceed the speed limit at any time.

"He was crying and just kept saying he wanted to go to his dad's," Caseville Police Chief Jamie Learman said. "That was pretty much it. He just wanted to go to his dad's." That's what's wrong in his life.

The boy's mother had worked the night shift and was unaware her son and the car were gone. There were no indications of the whereabouts of the step-father.

The boy was eventually boxed in by police vehicles and stopped; then he was arrested. The boy did not resist arrest and was not armed at the time so no aggravated assault charges could be filed. Police had no choice but to surrender the young criminal to child welfare officials.

A by-stander, with no interest in the matter, opined that a little jail time would teach the kid a needed lesson. Kids in America have no civil rights.