12-Year-Old Kid From Queens Takes 125-Mile Joyride In Family Car With 7-Year-Old Cousin

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A 12-year-old boy from Queens went on a 124-mile joyride in the family’s Range Rover, taking his 7-year-old cousin with him. The boy waited until his mother entered the shower and then took off on his joyride, which only ended at the New Jersey-Delaware state line, according to reports by police and neighbors.

New Jersey state police  located the white Range Rover early Monday afternoon after the children entered the state via Staten Island. Authorities tracked the car via EZPass readers.

The two children were picked up on the New Jersey Turnpikes’ Clara Barton Service Plaza at 2:30 PM, five hours after they left their 115th street home in South Ozone park. The kids’ family received a notification that the children had attempted to use a family credit card at a rest stop on the border of New Jersey and Delaware, cops said.

Local police were called to location, where they spotted the cousins and transported them to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

It is thought that the two were motivated by an internet challenge calling on people to take a car and drive it until the gas runs out. The children were actually hoping to make it to Florida according to law enforcement sources.

Neighbors were amazed at the kids stunt. One neighbor, Nicola Prudenti, told the New York Post that “if the kids are not in school then they do things like this. They have too much time.”

She added that the children are “very nice.”

Another neighbor, Irene Valentine, a retired teacher and EMT, said  that “I am in awe because that boy was so quiet and respectful. Just observing them you could tell they were very happy but that their parents were strict because they were only allowed to ride their bikes to a certain point.

“As a parent, it’s nerve-wracking. How did he learn how to drive a car?,” she asked before adding, “I’m so glad they are safe.”