Police found the child safely inside the store after she admitted to hitting a mailbox along the way
Dashcam video shows 8-year-old girl driving family car to Target store
Police in Ohio released dashcam video showing an 8-year-old girl driving on a roadway on her way to a Target over the weekend. (Justin Kimery/TMX)
Dashcam video has been released showing an 8-year-old girl behind the wheel of her mother's vehicle on the way to go shopping at an Ohio Target store.
Over the weekend, Bedford police announced that they had found the child, who was reported missing, safe and shopping, after they said she drove her mother's vehicle for nearly 30 minutes on busy roads to the popular retail store.
The ordeal started Sunday morning, when police initially took a call for a missing child. However, as they began to investigate, calls began coming in "concerning a small child driving east on Rockside Road," FOX 8 Cleveland reported.
In the newly released dashcam video, recorded from a personal vehicle, a man can be heard calling the police and reporting a vehicle behind him "swerving everywhere."
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An 8-year-old girl drove herself 24 minutes from her home to a Target in Bainbridge, Ohio, according to a Bedford Police Department report. (Mario Tama/Getty Images | Justin Kimery/TMX)
The "swerving driver" can then be seen passing into view of the dashcam as the man can be heard telling dispatchers, "It looks like a kid!"
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Dashcam video appears to show an 8-year-old girl behind the wheel of her family’s car — and on her way to Target. (Justin Kimery/TMX)
Police located the vehicle at a Target with the girl shopping inside, according to FOX 8. The girl also told officers that she struck a mailbox during her drive, which was estimated to be about 10 miles between her home and the store.
Officers said they called relatives to retrieve the car and the young girl, who they said is now home safe.
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An Ohio girl reportedly drove her mom's SUV to their local Target. (iStock )
"Well, I’ve finally found a woman who’s in more of a hurry to shop at Target than my wife. More of hurry by 8 years," Bedford police joked in a post on its department Facebook page. "That’s right, an 8-year-old took mommy’s car this morning and drove to Target in Bainbridge to shop."
"Not sure what she bought, or if she was even able to use her Target app to save 5%. We did let her finish her Frappuccino. We’re not mean," the police continued.
Police told FOX 8 that the girl is too young to be charged criminally, and that they are just grateful that no one was injured.
