Preschoolers Steal Mom’s SUV to go See Grandma, Washington State Police Say

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (KOMO) – It was hardly over the river and through the woods.

Police say two kids were so determined to get to their grandma’s house, they took an SUV from their driveway, started the engine, and drove it through a nearby intersection, crashing into a second car.

“[It sounded] like and explosion went off — something, we really don’t know. So I ran out and I saw it,” said Annemarie Warren, who lives nearby. “I knew it was our neighbor’s car, but I did not know she wasn’t in the car. Only the two little ones.”

The accident happened at the intersection of Southwest 317th Place and 21st Avenue Southwest around 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to police.

The children were uninjured, witnesses said. The driver of the second car had cuts and bruises.
“I held the kids both in their hands and I said, ‘where’s your mom?’ [They said,] ‘sleeping. I want to go to my grandma’s house,'” Warren recalled. “I was waiting for the mother to come out, too, you know?”

A preliminary investigation found that children managed to start the car and drive it as far as the intersection before plowing into the side of the second car, police said.

Authorities did not say whether the parents could face any charges.

“My reaction was, thankfully they’re okay,” said Fred Axberg, who heard the crash. “For sure they had an angel.”