Target is a popular destination for shoppers of all ages. Apparently, the allure is so strong that it can be worth stealing your mom’s car for.
At least, that was the case for an 8-year-old girl in Bedford, Ohio, who was reported to be safe after she took her family’s car on a joyride to Target on Sunday, setting off alarms in her neighborhood and nearby towns. She was found nearly two hours after leaving her home, but not before she was able to get herself a drink from Starbucks, according to the Bedford Police Department.
It is unclear how the young child knew how to navigate her way to Target — or operate a motor vehicle. On Tuesday, as news of the incident began to spread, her mother declined a request for comment.
The event played out on Sunday, when officers responded to an emergency call minutes before 9 a.m. in which a mother reported that her 8-year-old daughter had gone missing, as had a 2020 Nissan Rogue. The police report noted that the child had last been seen by her family around 7 a.m.
The police said that the family’s next-door neighbor had provided officers Ring camera footage of the girl getting inside the midsize S.U.V. and driving off alone.
The Bedford Police Department reported that it had received additional calls about a vehicle matching the description of the Nissan Rogue before officers in the nearby town of Bainbridge located the car in a Target parking lot. The police then found the girl inside the store, and her family was summoned to pick her up, according to the report. She acknowledged to police officers that she struck a mailbox during her drive to Target.
In dashcam video footage obtained by The New York Times from Justin Kimery, a witness to the event, the young girl could be seen swerving and crossing lanes of traffic. Because Mr. Kimery does not have a rear-facing camera, he said he couldn’t capture more footage of her driving erratically behind him. He called 911 out of concern that the person behind him was driving under the influence or having a medical emergency. He then remained on the phone with dispatchers.
“I thought that was very odd but I kept driving because I had to get to work,” Mr. Kimery said in an email. “I looked in my mirror behind me and I saw that the driver was all over the road.”
When the Rogue passed his vehicle, Mr. Kimery tried to see who was operating the car but “could barely see the driver” because of her short stature. At one point, she pulled into a parking lot, Mr. Kimery said, so he turned around to try and make contact again. But she soon resumed driving.
“I tried to signal her to slow down or stop if possible, and she just kept going,” he said. “It looked like she was distracted inside the vehicle.”
Later, he saw a post on a scanner app alerting the Ohio State Highway Patrol to be on the lookout for the same vehicle, which was when he learned that an 8-year-old was behind the wheel.
No one is facing any charges, according to Rick Suts, the deputy chief of the Bedford Police. Hours after the incident, the police department found humor in the entire ordeal, writing in a Facebook post that they had finally found someone “who’s in more of a hurry to shop at Target than my wife.”
“That’s right an 8 year old took mommy’s car this morning and drove to Target in Bainbridge to shop,” the post said. “Thankfully she made it and was immediately located by Bainbridge Police. She’s now home safe.”
“We did let her finish her Frappuccino,” the post added. “We’re not mean.”
The post A Trip to Target Caused a Stir. Why? The Driver Was 8. appeared first on New York Times.
