An 11-year-old driving recklessly in a minivan north of Sacramento lost control and crashed in a rainstorm after evading a traffic stop, the California Highway Patrol said.
The CHP said the incident began around 10:42 a.m. Saturday just north of Oroville in Butte County, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. In a social media post, the CHP office in Oroville said it had received multiple reports of a reckless driver on southbound State Route 99, just north of State Route 149. Callers told the CHP that the silver minivan was traveling at various speeds drove and swerved into all lanes.
Officers located the vehicle on southbound SR-149 and attempted to pull it over, but the driver sped away toward southbound SR-70. Officers ended the pursuit of the vehicle due to the stormy conditions, the CHP said.
At 11:40 a.m., police in Chico — about 27 miles northeast of Oroville — contacted the CHP and said the driver of the vehicle was an 11-year-old minor, as reported by the minor’s guardian, the CHP said. Approximately seven minutes later, the CHP received additional calls about the minor again driving south on SR-149 toward SR-70 toward Oroville.
Officers were positioned at the Garden Drive exit of SR-70 and as the vehicle exited Garden Drive, officers attempted to communicate with the minor on the exit ramp, the CHP said. The minor stopped briefly but sped away again, the CHP said, and officers followed the vehicle at a speed of about 50 miles per hour without lights or sirens “to prevent the minor from alarming and initiating a high-speed flight,” the CHP said in the social media. after.
“Additionally, officers did not actively pursue the minor in the interest of his safety and that of the public, and followed only to monitor the minor’s whereabouts as there was no means of communicating with the minor at the time ,” the CHP said.
California Highway Patrol
After exiting SR-70 at the next exit, the vehicle eventually traveled through a heavily flooded section of roadway at approximately 55 miles per hour and overturned. Officers removed the windshield of the minivan to rescue the minor, who was not visibly injured and was wearing a seat belt, the CHP said. Doctors took the minor to a local hospital as a precaution.
No other injuries or damage were reported. The CHP Oroville Area Office investigated the circumstances of the incident. No additional information was immediately released.
