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Grounded! Six-Year-Old Drives Dad's Car to Get Chinese Food

By Aditi Mukherji, JD on April 16, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Some kids dream of trading in their Power Wheels for a real car, other kids just have a midnight craving for Chinese food. A six-year-old Michigan boy whose name is not Macaulay Culkin tackled both dreams when he was found driving around in the family Ford Taurus at 6 a.m. to pick up Chinese takeout.

The little dude could hardly see over the dash, which sounds adorable, but is actually quite scary.

Police officers in Lapeer, Michigan received reports of a car being driven erratically, The Detroit News reports. Before the police arrived, a few drivers boxed in the little Chinese food enthusiast with their own cars, and someone reached into the car, turned the ignition off and removed the keys. It was likely the cutest citizen's arrest of all time.

Gunning for chow mein with a heaping side of chutzpah, he told officers he took the car because he wanted more of the Chinese food he'd eaten the previous night -- but when he got to the restaurant he found it was shut, reports The Detroit News.

He might only be six, but he was pretty responsible. He told the cops that he was going to get Chinese food first and then to the dealer to get the car fixed. He hit a sign on his street and damaged the bumper.

Okay, so he actually blamed his dad for it.

And so did the police. No charges have been filed against the kid or the parents, but an investigation is ongoing, reports The Detroit News. Though it was 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday, police were miffed at the dad for being asleep and not even knowing that his son was gone.

The law requires that parents supervise their kids. Child neglect includes acts, or failures to act, that seriously harm a child if it could have been prevented with proper supervision.

Here, it's possible that the parents will have to pay fines for the damaged street sign. But since no one was hurt, it doesn't seem likely that the parents will face child abuse or any kind of endangerment charges.

The Coolest Kid in Kindergarten, however, will probably be grounded for the rest of his life.

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