Boy, 12, Caught Driving Stolen Car Alone on Expressway After 6-Hour Joyride

A 12-year-old boy in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was stopped after driving a neighbor's car alone on an expressway for more than six hours, his journey ending only when he ran short of cash to pay a toll.

The incident unfolded on June 15 at the Gaotian toll station on the G65 Baomao Expressway near Guilin, where a toll collector became suspicious after the driver said he did not have enough money to cover the toll.

According to local traffic police, the person behind the wheel looked unusually small. When asked his age, the driver insisted he was an adult and claimed he simply had a form of dwarfism.

The toll collector alerted local police, who soon discovered that the "adult" driver was actually a 12-year-old boy surnamed Luo, who had no driver's license.

During questioning, Luo repeatedly changed his story. He initially claimed he was driving to visit his grandmother and said the car belonged to his aunt. He also told officers it was his first time behind the wheel and that he had learned to drive as he went.

Investigators later contacted his father and the vehicle owner. The sedan belonged to a neighbor, who had no idea it had been taken until police called him.

Luo eventually admitted that he and several friends had taught themselves to drive "for excitement" and had secretly driven vehicles before.

According to police, the boy stole the neighbor's car keys at around 4am on June 15 and entered the expressway via Xiangshan toll station in Guilin at about 4:45am. He then drove through several counties, spending more than six hours on the road.