4-year-old drives away in mom's car in Fullerton

[October 14, 2011]  FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) -- Fullerton police say a 4-year-old boy had a wild ride but escaped serious injury after he drove off alone in his mom's car during rush hour, eventually rolling the vehicle over and crashing.

Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich says the boy's mother parked the car about 4 p.m. Thursday to a use a nearby phone. The boy got out of his car seat and climbed into the driver's seat, put the car in gear and drove onto a busy city street.

Goodrich says the boy sideswiped a vehicle, then veered into oncoming traffic. At that point the vehicle rolled over once but landed back on its tires and kept going, eventually crashing into some trees.

Goodrich tells the Orange County Register the boy was taken to a hospital with what were believed to be minor injuries.

The Los Angeles Times reports that in all, the boy traveled about a third of a mile.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.