8-year-old takes mom’s SUV, does her own Target run

BEDFORD, Ohio — Sometimes a Target run cannot wait, even if you don’t have a driver’s license and can barely touch the gas pedal.

Police said an 8-year-old girl from Bedford, Ohio, hopped into her mother’s SUV and drove 25 minutes to the nearby store on Sunday. The drive was captured on another driver’s dash camera.

Bedford Police shared the story of the pint-sized Target fan on Facebook, writing, “Well I’ve finally found a woman who’s in more of a hurry to shop at Target than my wife. More of (a) hurry by 8 years. that’s right an 8-year-old took mommy’s car this morning and drove to Target in Bainbridge to shop.”

When police finally caught up with the very young driver, she was enjoying a Frappuccino, which police said they allowed her to finish.

USA Today reported that police were alerted by the girl’s family that she was missing along with her mother’s 2020 Nissan Rogue. Officials looked at a neighbor’s Ring camera video and showed the girl getting into the SUV and driving off around 7 a.m.

Police also had a call of a child driving a vehicle that matched the description of the missing girl.

A video shows the car swerving and switching lanes frequently. She did admit to police that she did hit a mailbox and there was some damage on the SUV, but luckily no one was hurt.

The time she left the house to the time police found her around 9 a.m. was about two hours, The New York Times reported.

The distance from the girl’s home to the Target was about 13 miles, ABC News reported.

Her family drove to Target to pick up her and the SUV.

Police did not say why she went on the Target run by herself. It is also not known how she knew how to operate the SUV or get to the store on her own, the Times reported.

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