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12-year-old local boy skips school, steals dad’s truck for 300-mile joyride

Posted at 7:53 PM, Jun 04, 2015
and last updated 2015-06-05 00:33:35-04

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. – A 12-year-old boy skipped school, police said, and took a joyride in his dad’s F150 Ford pickup truck – across state lines.

The boy’s escape was unnoticed by his parents. It wasn’t until Prince George County police received a “help to notify” call from South Carolina Highway Patrol around 1:15 p.m. Thursday.

The boy, who will not be identified because of his age, took the truck over 300 miles.

"We were called by South Carolina State Police to go to an address on Walton Lake Road," said Prince George County Lt. Paul Burroughs.

Turns out, the boy was supposed to be in class at J. E. J. Moore Middle School in Prince George, but instead SCHP pulled him over on interstate 95.

Highway Patrol officers tell CBS-6 a driver called about an erratic driver near I-95 and Route 501 in Marion County, South Carolina.  When officers stopped the truck, they discovered two guns inside.

“It's a shock to the neighborhood,” said Danielle Booth, who lives next door to the boy’s family. "I never would've guessed. And that in the truck? Oh, my."

"It’s very concerning that was in vehicle with him, and you wonder what he was planning to do," said Booth.

And neighbors aren't the only ones expressing concern.  "It’s definitely concerning, and like I said, we are working with the info we have right now and will follow up when he gets back to Virginia," said Burroughs.

The SC Highway Patrol tells us the boy was taken to a juvenile detention center in Marion County.

Neither the boy nor any other driver was harmed.

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