A young brother and sister who took their mother's car on a ride after she took away their electronic devices were stopped by police on a Florida highway about 200 miles from home, authorities said.
Deputies stopped the pair, a 10-year-old boy and a 11-year-old girl, about 3:50 a.m. Thursday as they rode in their mother's sedan on Interstate 75 in Alachua, Florida, about 16 miles north of Gainesville, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The boy was driving, the sheriff's office said.
The two ended up a three-hour ride north of home in North Port after they ran away because their mother had seized their electronic devices, the sheriff's office said in a follow-up statement Friday.
Their mother reported them missing, it said.
When deputies spotted the sedan, which had been reported as stolen, they stopped it and ordered the people inside out at gunpoint.
"Much to their surprise, deputies observed a 10-year-old male driver exit the vehicle, along with his 11-year-old sister," the sheriff's office said.
The two were released to their mother and were unlikely to face charges, because their mother did not want to pursue allegations the vehicle was stolen, the office said.
It said criminal charges could not be recommended after the woman declined to pursue the stolen vehicle case. The driver could have been booked on an allegation of driving without a license, it said, but it is a misdemeanor traffic violation and would not lead to detention in a juvenile facility.
"Our detectives did speak with their mother at length," the sheriff's office said. She "was clearly doing her best to raise two young children and she was very receptive to the recommendations they provided in helping her get assistance."
