8 Year Old Ohio Girl Drove To Target, Went Shopping: Police

In a remarkable incident over the weekend, police in Ohio discovered an 8-year-old girl shopping at a Target store after she took her mom’s car and drove on busy roads to get there.

On Sunday morning, Bedford police received a call reporting a missing child. As officers began their investigation, they received another report about a small child driving east on Rockside Road.

Following up on these leads, the police located the vehicle in the parking lot of a Target store in Bainbridge, Ohio, more than 10 miles away from where the girl was initially reported missing.

Bedford police shared a Facebook post on Sunday morning about the young girl’s Target run.

“Well I’ve finally found a woman who’s in more of a hurry to shop at Target than my wife,” the Facebook post says. “More of (a) hurry by 8 years. That’s right an 8-year-old took mommy’s car this morning and drove to Target in Bainbridge to shop.”

“Not sure what she bought, or if she was even able to use her Target app to save 5%,” police wrote in the post. “We did let her finish her Frappuccino. We’re not mean.”

While the exact route she took remains unclear, Google Maps indicates that the drive would typically take around 20-25 minutes. Fortunately, the girl was unharmed, although she informed the officers that she had “struck a mailbox” during her journey.

Authorities contacted the girl’s relatives to retrieve her and the vehicle. Police noted that due to her age, she cannot be charged criminally, and expressed relief that no injuries occurred during the incident.