Boy (14) caught behind the wheel
Four youngsters, including a 14-year-old driver, was caught taking the family car for a drive.
A 14-year-old boy was caught behind the wheel when he and three other youngsters decided to take the family car for a drive this past weekend.
Adrian Ronald (28) said he could not believe his eyes when he saw a young boy sitting in the driver’s seat at the intersection of Hennie Alberts and Delphinium Streets on November 6 at about 20:00.
Ronald said he was heading towards the McDonald’s restaurant to treat his son, Logan, and wife, Kelly, when he noticed the maroon coloured Toyota Tazz kept on stalling.
“The traffic light’s arrow was indicating that we could turn right. When the vehicle stalled the first time, I did not really think anything of it as everyone stalls at some time,” Ronald said.
But when the vehicle stalled a second time, he detected that something might be amiss.
“That is when I saw that there was a kid in the car. My wife said that it can’t be, it must be one of those youngsters that just looks very young, but I disagreed.”
Ronald parked his car right in front of the vehicle to prevent it from moving any further and switched on his hazards.
“As I approached the occupants in the car, they quickly rolled up their windows. I asked the driver to roll down his window so that I could speak to them,” Ronald explained.
He then proceeded to ask the boy, who was sitting on cushions, to pull up the handbrake. One of the older boys climbed out of the vehicle and begged Ronald on his knees to let them go.
“Another occupant in the car started crying. I said I can’t let them go as none of them had a driver’s license and that their father was unaware that they had taken the car.”
Ronald said they drove all the way from Albertsdal, which is a distance of almost 3km until they were stopped.
The Brackendowns SAPS and the Brackendowns Community Policing Forum (CPF) were called to assist.
A police member on the scene told the youngsters in the presence of their father that there will be dire consequences if they are caught again.
The young driver told the RECORD he learnt how to drive by imitating what he saw when his father drove the car.
Sergeant Lindile Moloi, spokesperson at the Brackendowns Police Station said the youngsters were left in the care of their father, but with a stern warning.
