A woman who was walking her dog was critically injured when a set of 7-year-old and 4-year-old brothers took their parents’ car for a joyride.
A white sedan was speeding down 35th Avenue in Oakland, California, before it hit the woman while she was walking her dog. The incident was seen by several witnesses, as well as captured on surveillance video.
Oakland police said that a 7-year-old was behind the wheel, while his 4-year-old brother was also in the vehicle. They allegedly took their parents’ Toyota while they were sleeping, and the crash took place several blocks away from their home.
Following the crash, the children were found outside the vehicle. Meanwhile, the woman was left in critical condition. Her dog also fled the scene and it is not clear if the pet has been located.
“It was loud,” witness Lavelle Shah-Marquis told ABC 7 News of the crash. “I pray that she’s okay, but it was bad, it was bad.”
Oakland police have been able to locate the boys’ parents, who have reportedly cooperated with the investigation.
In light of the tragedy, many witnesses were left wondering who should be left responsible given the boys’ ages.
“Unfortunately, I think these parents need to be held responsible and that was my main concern was these parents need to be held responsible. This is ridiculous,” Shah-Marquis told the outlet.
Meanwhile, legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark admitted that penalizing anyone may be difficult since the situation was so uncommon. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s just such a one off,” he told ABC 7 News.
“The law doesn’t have an exact remedy for this,” he said.
Clark went to acknowledge that the act could be considered a crime, but the children involved likely won’t face criminal accountability due to their ages. “It is a crime that the seven-year-old committed, but we’re not going to put a seven-year-old in juvenile hall,” he said.
He then wondered what the “level of supervision of these kids” was at the time they took the car. “How did they get access to the vehicle?” Clark asked. “I’ve seen that in other cases where you rely on social workers, not prosecutors.”
Clark ultimately guessed that no one will be criminally charged, though a civil case is likely. “This isn’t like leaving a gun around for a kid. This is an automobile that we use every day, and this is the kind of thing that you’re used to just leaving your car keys out,” he said.
The investigation into the case remains ongoing.
The Oakland Police Department did not immediately respond to Us’ request for comment when contacted about the case.
