Boy, 9, stole truck, hit cop car two days before flight to Las Vegas without ticket, police say
The distraught father of a 9-year-old boy who reportedly got on an airline flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Las Vegas without a ticket last week said at news conference that the family tried to deal with the boy and sought help, to no avail.
Just days earlier, on Oct. 1, the unidentified child stole a delivery truck, eventually crashing it into an Edina, Minn., squad car, police say. Because of his youth, he can’t be criminally charged in any of the incidents, the Star Tribune reports.
His father said the family tried to work with the boy’s school on a behavior plan. A Hennepin County child welfare official said in an email obtained by the newspaper that her agency has had multiple contacts with the “challenging” boy.
He is being held in Nevada and is not expected to be returned to Minnesota until at least Friday.
A spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney’s child protection unit said the boy’s case is under review. Although he can’t be criminally charged, the boy could be removed from his home if he is found to have been mistreated or he could get “behavioral health” services.
MADDADS hosted the news conference, and a spokesman, V.J. Smith, expressed hope for the future.
“They were told he hadn’t done enough wrong yet, that he had to do something more serious,” he said of the family’s prior attempts to help the 9-year-old control his behavior. “I think that has happened at this time.”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Boy, 9, boards Las Vegas flight without ticket, launching airport security probe”
