boatofcar
02-08-2005, 02:18 PM
Boy's drive steers attention
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
By John Agar
The Grand Rapids Press
SAND LAKE -- After losing his video games as a punishment, 4-year-old Adrian Cole woke in the middle of the night, determined to replace them.
He dressed, put on his winter coat and boots and climbed on a lounge chair to reach keys on the wall and unlock the dead-bolt.
Then Adrian got into his mother's 1990 Geo Prizm and drove to Home Video, a quarter-mile up Northland Drive, the main drag through Sand Lake. It was closed at 1:30 a.m. Friday, so he started back home.
That's when Sand Lake police officers Bill Bogner and Jay Osga spotted the slow-moving car, without lights on, weaving over curbs and plowing through snow banks. They figured the driver was drunk, or suffering a medical problem, as they followed the car to an apartment complex. They blocked in the car before the driver put it in reverse and hit the gas, crashing into the police cruiser.
"You're thinking worst-case scenario, especially after somebody backs into our car, with the lights flashing," Bogner said Monday. "We're hollering to put his hands up, then we see it's a 4-year-old boy, and pulled him out of there."
The boy was hysterical, but the officers calmed him down.
It could be some time before the small town in northern Kent County can say the same.
The case of the 4-year-old driver has drawn national attention, with Osga and police Chief Doug Heugel interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," and getting reporters' calls from as far away as San Diego and New York. Even Jay Leno called the chief of the small-town police department.
"I'm very surprised how much attention we've gotten over this," Village President Nile Hayden said.
"Everyone knows about it -- it's nationwide," said the boy's aunt, who didn't want her name used.
The attention has been overwhelming for the boy's mother, Martina Cole, whose apartment complex is off Northland.
"(Media) won't leave her alone. They're not giving her any space," the aunt said, outside of Cole's apartment. Cole could not be reached for comment, and the aunt said she did not want to be interviewed.
Many wondered exactly how the small boy was able to drive the car. Police said he pushed the gas pedal to get started, then cruised at 7 mph on a high idle. He had tried to drive before, but his mom caught him. She had let him steer from her lap, and he knew how to work the gear shift.
Adrian is a bright boy, but really no different from any other child his age, his family said.
At Home Video, Jannie Ross thought she would offer the "real good-natured" boy free videos -- as long as he didn't drive himself to the store.
"That little man wanted a video, didn't he?" she said, smiling. "Bless his heart, nobody got hurt. It's a giggle all over town."
She recalled that her son, Derald, drove a 125 cc motorcycle at age 3. An older cousin put him on the bike, and caught him before he fell. But she could not imagine a 4-year-old driving on his own.
"You've got to figure the little kid must have a high IQ."
On a gray, rainy day, it gave everyone in town something to talk about, said Ron Griffee, 19, who works at the Sand Lake Party Store.
He thought it was a misprint when he heard about a 4-year-old driving. Maybe a 14-year-old. Then he saw the chief on national television.
"Think about a 4-year-old, is what, 3-feet tall?"
Heugel, the chief, said no citations were issued by the Sand Lake Police Department. Kent County sheriff's deputies took a crash report regarding the damaged Sand Lake cruiser because Heugel didn't want a conflict of interest.
It was fortunate no one was hurt, police said. Vehicles often travel 50 mph along Northland. Drivers wouldn't have seen the boy's car.
Police said the car the boy was driving was not insured. Neither were the two other vehicles he hit.
Press writer Nate Reens contributed to this story.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
By John Agar
The Grand Rapids Press
SAND LAKE -- After losing his video games as a punishment, 4-year-old Adrian Cole woke in the middle of the night, determined to replace them.
He dressed, put on his winter coat and boots and climbed on a lounge chair to reach keys on the wall and unlock the dead-bolt.
Then Adrian got into his mother's 1990 Geo Prizm and drove to Home Video, a quarter-mile up Northland Drive, the main drag through Sand Lake. It was closed at 1:30 a.m. Friday, so he started back home.
That's when Sand Lake police officers Bill Bogner and Jay Osga spotted the slow-moving car, without lights on, weaving over curbs and plowing through snow banks. They figured the driver was drunk, or suffering a medical problem, as they followed the car to an apartment complex. They blocked in the car before the driver put it in reverse and hit the gas, crashing into the police cruiser.
"You're thinking worst-case scenario, especially after somebody backs into our car, with the lights flashing," Bogner said Monday. "We're hollering to put his hands up, then we see it's a 4-year-old boy, and pulled him out of there."
The boy was hysterical, but the officers calmed him down.
It could be some time before the small town in northern Kent County can say the same.
The case of the 4-year-old driver has drawn national attention, with Osga and police Chief Doug Heugel interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," and getting reporters' calls from as far away as San Diego and New York. Even Jay Leno called the chief of the small-town police department.
"I'm very surprised how much attention we've gotten over this," Village President Nile Hayden said.
"Everyone knows about it -- it's nationwide," said the boy's aunt, who didn't want her name used.
The attention has been overwhelming for the boy's mother, Martina Cole, whose apartment complex is off Northland.
"(Media) won't leave her alone. They're not giving her any space," the aunt said, outside of Cole's apartment. Cole could not be reached for comment, and the aunt said she did not want to be interviewed.
Many wondered exactly how the small boy was able to drive the car. Police said he pushed the gas pedal to get started, then cruised at 7 mph on a high idle. He had tried to drive before, but his mom caught him. She had let him steer from her lap, and he knew how to work the gear shift.
Adrian is a bright boy, but really no different from any other child his age, his family said.
At Home Video, Jannie Ross thought she would offer the "real good-natured" boy free videos -- as long as he didn't drive himself to the store.
"That little man wanted a video, didn't he?" she said, smiling. "Bless his heart, nobody got hurt. It's a giggle all over town."
She recalled that her son, Derald, drove a 125 cc motorcycle at age 3. An older cousin put him on the bike, and caught him before he fell. But she could not imagine a 4-year-old driving on his own.
"You've got to figure the little kid must have a high IQ."
On a gray, rainy day, it gave everyone in town something to talk about, said Ron Griffee, 19, who works at the Sand Lake Party Store.
He thought it was a misprint when he heard about a 4-year-old driving. Maybe a 14-year-old. Then he saw the chief on national television.
"Think about a 4-year-old, is what, 3-feet tall?"
Heugel, the chief, said no citations were issued by the Sand Lake Police Department. Kent County sheriff's deputies took a crash report regarding the damaged Sand Lake cruiser because Heugel didn't want a conflict of interest.
It was fortunate no one was hurt, police said. Vehicles often travel 50 mph along Northland. Drivers wouldn't have seen the boy's car.
Police said the car the boy was driving was not insured. Neither were the two other vehicles he hit.
Press writer Nate Reens contributed to this story.