A pair of kids, ages 12 and 7, are found safe at a rest stop at New Jersey, Delaware border, after taking their parent's car for a joyride.
Two cousins, a 2-year-old boy and a 7-year-old took their parents Range Rover from their home in New York City and hay joyride all the way to near New Jersey and Delaware shared border on Monday, authorities said.
Around 10 in the morning, police officers from the 106th Precinct in Queens acknowledged reports of a stolen vehicle, a white Range Rover from 133-31 115th Street in Queens. A parent said the two broods had taken their automobile after they had reviewed their home surveillance recording.
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An NYPD representative voiced to Fox News, "They have a Ring doorbell... and they saw them get into a white Range Rover." That is how they started their joyride.
A police source told the Daily News the joyride case might have been inspired by a popular internet challenge called tank on empty. The viral social game aims to determine how long a car is driven until the gas tank is empty. The pair, a 12-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl was followed by authorities as their joyride adventure went into Staten Island through license plate readers and toll road technology.
Further, the news company said authorities tracking them tried to get him pulled over. Unfortunately, the boy refused their attempts to get him to a halt and end their joyride. New Jersey state troopers used all child-friendly efforts and were unsuccessful. A few moments later, the children tried using a credit card to purchase cookies, which triggered an alert to their whereabouts, and they were found at a rest stop near the New Jersey/Delaware border.
Fortuitously, authorities said, both kids were unharmed, and no accidents related to the joyride were reported. They were taken back to the city to speak with the police as an investigation into the event continued.
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Parents and guardians of both children may face child abuse as neglect is considered a form of abuse, too, in US Child Abuse Law. It is written there that "child neglect is defined as the failure of a parent or caregiver to provide needed food, shelter, clothing, medical care, or supervision to the degree that a child's health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm." This joyride incident falls under the grounds that parents or caregivers neglect to provide the children with the proper supervision of their safety as their safety is threatened with harm.
The incident has caused or stirred different reactions from the netizens on various concerns. Some are questioning the police's ability to handle this kind of situation. A comment was even posted, "Did the police give up after trying to get them to stop earlier?" Why did it take a credit card ping to find them?"
Many calls that it's about time that beating will once again be legalized as a comment came: "Don't blame it all on the parents. Their hands are tied by child abuse laws."
