Upset that his mother wouldn’t buy him a Lamborghini, a 5-year-old Utah boy got behind the wheel of his parents’ SUV and tried to make the long drive to California to purchase one himself, officials said Monday.
But he didn’t make it that far.
After leaving Ogden, which is north of Salt Lake City, the child’s ambitious journey came to an abrupt end about two miles from home when his erratic driving caught a trooper’s attention on the southbound 15 Freeway shortly before noon, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
After witnessing the driver swerving through lanes on the interstate in Weber County, Trooper Rick Morgan initiated the traffic stop, thinking he was pulling over someone experiencing a medical emergency or perhaps an impaired driver.
The SUV’s speed was a little above 30 mph at the time.
“I hit my siren and the car did immediately pull over the left. I approached the vehicle and I was expecting to find somebody who needed an ambulance or paramedics,” Morgan recalled during a news conference. “And it was pretty clear when the window came down that it was a young, very underage driver.”
Inside the SUV, the boy was sitting on the edge of the driver’s seat so he could reach the pedals, according to Morgan. He had to help the child put the vehicle into park and shut it off.
Distraught and near tears, the 5-year-old explained he had quarreled with his mother because she refused to purchase the Lamborghini, the trooper said.
So with cash in tow, he decided to drive to his sister’s residence in California and then go himself to buy the treasured luxury car.
The Highway Patrol did not say where exactly the sister lived but noted the boy was going in the right direction. The southbound 15 leads in to San Bernardino County and winds down to San Diego.
However, even if he had gotten to his intended destination, the child would have faced a major hurdle at any dealership: lack of funds to purchase the car, which normally retails for six-figures.
Troopers found the boy with $3 in his wallet — just a little bit “short on the purchase amount,” the agency said in a tweet.
His parents were called to the scene, where they took custody of their son as well as the car, according to officials.
“I do think he’s probably had a life’s lesson today and I don’t think we’ll see him in this situation again soon,” Morgan said.
