By Phil Helsel -
NBC News
The California Highway Patrol briefly pursued a speeding Volkswagen car on Wednesday and was surprised to find a 9-year-old boy behind the wheel.
No one was injured in the incident in Oroville, a city of about 20,000 people near the Sierra Nevada mountains about 60 miles north of Sacramento, the Patrol said.
The incident began around 9:20 a.m. when a patrol car found him "stopped in a strange manner in the middle of an intersection," according to the police statement.
"When directed to move, the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly, leading to a short and erratic chase that ended in a dirt parking lot just east of the elementary school on Plumas Avenue," state police added.
The vehicle stopped, reversed and collided with the patrol car, according to the release, causing minor damage to the police car.
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Officers then discovered that the driver was a 9-year-old boy who took the car, he said, in an attempt to drive to school. "We are relieved to report that no one was injured," the police agency added, "the child was sent safely to school after the relevant authorities were alerted and the situation was documented."
Officer Terry Dunn, who stopped the boy, told NBC News affiliate KNVN in Chico that his reaction to finding him behind the wheel was shock.
"It was one of those things that no one really believed in," Dunn said. As he explained, as the car stopped, he "noticed a slight nod inside. "As I got closer I could see a boy, who turned out to be a 9-year-old boy, sticking his head out and saying, 'Sorry, I'm trying to get to school,'" she explained.
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Dunn stressed the danger of the situation and asked parents to keep car keys in a safe place and talk to their children to prevent something like this from happening again.