Police: 3-year-old diapered driver crashes Jeep, runs home to watch cartoons

MYRTLE CREEK, Oregon -- A 3-year-old boy is accused of climbing into a Jeep, knocking it out of gear, crashing into a nearby house and then running home to watch cartoons, KPTV reported.

An officer noticed a small boy in a Jeep Wrangler by himself on the 300 block of Northwest Second Street in Myrtle Creek at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

After about five minutes and not seeing any adults, the officer approached the child and asked about his parents. The boy said his parents weren't home, but another relative was asleep in the house, according to a Myrtle Creek police report.

Police contacted the relative, identified as 22-year-old Brennan Pennington, and alerted her to the fact that the child had the keys in the Jeep and was able to get inside the vehicle.

Police said the officer issued a warning to Pennington. The family, however, said that wasn't the case.

The boy's aunt and owner of the Jeep, Amy Mayberry, told Fox 12 on Thursday night that the child never had the keys, because they were inside the home the whole time and never within his reach.

She said the boy got into the vehicle while Pennington was in the bathroom.

Police said a 3-year-old boy knocked a Jeep out of gear and crashed into a nearby home. Photo: Myrtle Creek Police Dept.



At about 7:30 p.m., police were called back to the scene on reports of a Jeep crashing into a house.

Investigators said the 3-year-old again got into the Jeep, only this time he knocked it out of gear. Witnesses reported seeing the Jeep traveling down the street, through an intersection, up over a curb, through a yard and into a house.

The boy then got out, wearing only a diaper, and ran home, according to Myrtle Creek police.

The officer arrived at the child's home and said the boy was on the couch watching cartoons, "as if nothing had ever happened."

Mayberry said the whole thing was simply a big accident. She said the jeep was parked on an incline and when the boy got inside and was playing around, he knocked the manual transmission into neutral, causing the vehicle to coast down the road and into a home.

Nobody was injured.

Police said the family made a "civil compromise" with the homeowner regarding the damage to the house. Pennington was cited on the charge of failing to supervise a child, according to police.

A family member was cited for failing to supervise the child. A civil compromise was reached with the homeowner. Photo: Myrtle Creek Police Dept.