Boy, 12, pretends to be ‘dwarf’ after he’s caught driving 6 hours down motorway

The cheeky lad – named Luo – made the audacious attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of toll booth staff before also reportedly lying to police

A cheeky 12-year-old boy who stole his neighbour’s car last week (June 15) and drove it for six hours down a busy motorway attempted to return to the road by telling police he had dwarfism.

Suspicion was raised after the lad, who is from southern China and has been named Luo by local media, reportedly had no cash to pay at a toll booth, causing staff to approach his vehicle.

When they got close to the car, booth workers noticed that something was not quite right, and began questioning the youthful looking driver.

Luo boldly claimed to the toll booth staff that he was in fact an adult, and explained his shorter stature as being a result of dwarfism, according to Chinese news outlet SOHU and others.

Officials saw through his brazenness and the police were called. The 12-year-old, who was found to not be in possession of a driver’s license, told cops that he was driving to his grandmother’s house, that the car belonged to his aunt, and that he had never driven before but was learning on the go.

Luo had in fact stolen the vehicle from his neighbour and had reportedly learnt to drive in secret along with a couple of his pals back home.

His neighbour was not aware that the car had been stolen until being alerted by police.

While no formal punishment was given to either Luo or his dad, police were keen to stress to both the dangers of the reckless escapade.

They also criticized the father for poor supervision, told him he could be held civilly responsible for any damages, and ordered him to improve parenting, supervise the child better, and teach traffic safety at home.

In a statement, a Chinese Transport Management spokesperson said: “Traffic safety education for minors is an important part of family education and social safety governance.”

“Parents must earnestly fulfil their guardianship responsibilities, strengthen daily supervision and traffic safety education for their children, properly keep vehicle keys, and strictly prohibit minors from driving without permission or a license.”

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