Driving While Stupid

You get into an accident with your car. Your car is able to drive away, so you do. Then the police stop by your house and arrest you for leaving the scene of an accident. Oh and on suspicion of having had a bit to drink. You're also 17 years old. The police cuff you and put you in a squad car. What to do?

Easy! Steal the police car and crash it!

PEKIN, Ill. - A handcuffed teenager told police he was just trying to get home and get to bed when he stole and crashed a squad car after being arrested for leaving the scene of an accident.

"We don't have a lot of empty (jail) beds here, but we found one for him," Tazewell County Chief Deputy Dick Ganschow said.

Police say Joshua Hall, 17, of Manito, was belted in the back seat of the squad car when he somehow wriggled free, crawled through a small sliding door into the front seat, then drove away in handcuffs before crashing through two fence rows, a gate and into a row of trees.

"This is the kind of thing that you can joke about when it's over and no one ends up hurt, but this is a very serious incident that could easily have ended badly," Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston told the Pekin Daily Times.

Hall was first arrested early Thursday on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor, police said. He was arrested at his home and taken back to the crash site.

So now, instead of a few relatively minor charges (since the first accident is not reported to have caused personal injury) Mr. Hall is looking at some serious charges including charges of escape, aggravated possession of a converted vehicle, failure to wear a seat belt, reckless driving and another count of leaving the scene of an accident. Since the police had already arrested him at his home, it should have been evident to Mr. Hall that he was not going to get away.

And he's only 17! We predict great things for Mr. Hall. We look forward to his entry in the Darwin Awards.