A 12-year-old boy is facing multiple charges after he allegedly led Austin, Texas, police on an intoxicated car chase that ended with his car slamming into a pole.
The child driver was left with only minor injuries despite two head-on crashes during Monday morning’s chase, police said at a press conference.
A patrol officer was first alerted to the problem around 7:35 a.m. when a car was seen dangerously weaving in and out of traffic. The responding officer tried to perform a traffic stop, but the vehicle allegedly sped off. Eventually it slammed head-on into another car, said Austin Police Department spokesman Ivan Ramos.
Instead of stopping, Officer Ramos said, the child driver continued on down the street. A few blocks later, the boy crashed into the pole, flipping his car. No one else was in the vehicle.
The boy was taken to a children’s hospital to be checked out.
“He’s being investigated right now for driving while intoxicated, failure to stop and render aid because of the crash he had with the other vehicle, and evading the police officers,” Ramos said.
The officer, who did not identify the boy because he is a minor, declined to comment on the child’s parents, saying not enough information was immediately available. He also declined to elaborate on the suggestion that the boy was drunk.
“We’re not going to say that there was possible alcohol involved unless there was possible alcohol involved,” he said.
The other people involved in the first crash escaped with minor injuries and did not require hospitalization, Ramos said.
