Dad Presses Charges Against 14 Year-Old Son for Joyride

[Hum]

PALM BAY -- A Brevard County teenager is in a whole lot of trouble after driving his father's car into a lake early Thursday morning.

The 14-year-old and his girlfriend managed to escape with minor injuries, but now the teen faces some serious charges -- brought on by his own dad.

Only visible by its bumper, a police dive team searched the small lake for a white Dodge Intrepid.

Palm Bay police said the teen stole his father's car and took it on a 3 a.m. joyride with his 18-year-old girlfriend at Palm Bay Regional Park.

That, police said, was when the boy lost control and ended up driving into the lake.

The boy's mother, said she was just relieved that both teens made it out safely.

"It's about 3 to 4 feet right here, where the car first went in," she said. "My son said it went in fast and hard, and the water was filling up on both sides, and it just kept getting deeper."

Water was rushing into vehicle, but the teen's mother said her son had watched a TV show on how to escape such a scenario.

"He was able to pull himself and his friend out of the vehicle as it was sinking in the water," she said. "He was able to pull a door open after a lot of struggling with it, and pull her across and pull them both out as the car was sinking."

Inside the car, police found some fish and the boy?s hat.

The vehicle was deemed a total loss, and so was everything inside, including hundreds of dollars' worth of computer equipment that belonged to the teen's father.

Now, the father, is pressing charges against his own son.

"Right now we're looking at a stolen vehicle, so grand theft," said Palm Bay police Sgt. Jesse Eakins. "He was on home detention, so you're looking at violating his probation. Plus, we have several traffic charges we will charge him with. He's definitely getting punished for this joyride."

A hard lesson to learn, but his parents said they hope it will help him in the long run.

"We're very lucky we're not planning a funeral today, and he's at home resting," the boy's mother said.

After that day of rest Thursday, the 14-year-old's parents said they are bringing their son to a juvenile detention center on Friday.

source

[compl3x]

14 year old with 18 year old girlfriend?

Anyway - I guess his dad is the "take no ****" kind of guy. lol

[Pow]

Good.

[limok]

18yr old woman, 14 yr old boy - paedophile no?

[Japlabot]

Well weighing up the options, let his son get away with it and lose the car+contents, or let the Police treat it as a theft and claim it allcon insurance, knowing his son's record will be supressed when he turns 18. Also WTF to having an 18-year old girlfirend? Doesn't that make her a pedophile? Or double-standards time again?

[Hum]

^ Around here 15 year-old girls go with 20 year-old guys ... police look the other way.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Good parenting! (Y)

[Rohdekill]

Another convict in the making.

[Noir Angel]

Good on him, this kind of thing must be nipped in the bud before kids turn into career criminals.

[DocM]

^^ agreed. This kid needs a good hammering, be it by the justice system or dad taking him to the woodshed. My dad would have done the latter & been done with it.

[Asrokhel]

^ Around here 15 year-old girls go with 20 year-old guys ... police look the other way.

And where is 'here'?

[Hum]

^ South PA ... small town

[FMH]

The dad should sue him for the damages, and the emotional stress he caused. ;)

[Hum]

I thought when the kid gets in trouble, the parents end up paying ....

[Growled Member]

Maybe if the parents had done a better job lf parenting in the first place none of this would have happened.

[jnelsoninjax]

Sad that we have to press charges on our kids cause we cant punish them ourselves anymore in this country. (spanking, grounding, etc)

So very true...

Maybe if the parents had done a better job lf parenting in the first place none of this would have happened.

Perhaps, but the kid is 14 and decided to show off for his g/f, that does not mean that the parents failed in raising him.

[Hum]

Maybe if the parents had done a better job lf parenting in the first place none of this would have happened.

A lot of bad behavior emerges precisely because of overly strict parents. ;)

They rebel, to propel them into the independence of adulthood.

[SharpGreen]

Well weighing up the options, let his son get away with it and lose the car+contents, or let the Police treat it as a theft and claim it allcon insurance, knowing his son's record will be supressed when he turns 18. Also WTF to having an 18-year old girlfirend? Doesn't that make her a pedophile? Or double-standards time again?

Depends on the age of consent. Some states it's rather low. Plus it also only matters if someone complains, or the age difference is greater than 4yrs, say for instance 10yrs.

[Growled Member]

A lot of bad behavior emerges precisely because of overly strict parents. ;)

They rebel, to propel them into the independence of adulthood.

True, but a lot is from the lack of parental guidelines. It's cute when they are young but it'll bite you in the butt if you let such behavior continue when they are older.

[DocM]

When I was 14 and feeling my oats I challenged my dad (USAAC / farmer / railroad mechanic - strong as a bull) over something stupid - I was acting like a total brat. I drew to hit him and the next I knew I was waking up under the kitchen table. The old man had a pretty nasty right cross.

The first thing he said was "you're almost a man, and if you act like an a**hole to a grown man expect more of the same, and not just from me"

Message received, sir.

[Rigby]

That, police said, was when the boy lost control and ended up driving into the lake.

Automobile?

[mudslag]

Maybe if the parents had done a better job lf parenting in the first place none of this would have happened.

Doesn't matter how good parents you are or are not, kids will do what kids want to do.

[HawkMan]

The kid was already on home detention, so it's not like this is hits first adventure.

So I wouldn't go to far with the good parenting. Putting faith in the American justice/punishment system sure isn't going to help. It has the highest repeat offender rate in the civilized world.