Tiny Tot Ties Up Traffic

CRYSTAL RIVER — A 3-year-old with a need for speed created quite a stir in Citrus County Wednesday morning when he decided to put his home in the rearview and set out on U.S. 19 in a motorized big wheel.

According to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, the little boy, who is not being identified, struck out just before 9:30 a.m. and was spotted by other motorists along the busy highway in the area of 1180 N. Suncoast Blvd. Concerned for the little speed demon’s safety, those motorists called deputies and “formed a blockade around the child,” the agency wrote in an email.

When deputies arrived, they found the child “sitting behind the steering wheel in the driver’s seat of a small motorized vehicle,” the email said. The boy, “was wearing a shirt and a diaper and a blanket had been used to cover him.”

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The boy’s father was also on the scene. Dad told deputies he had gone to the bathroom and left his son alone in the living room. The father said the boy used a little chair to reach the door locks and slipped out for a spin before he finished in the bathroom. When Dad got out, he called for his son and got no answer. Then he noticed the front door was open and took off to find his boy.

“Not finding him immediately, he got on a bicycle and headed toward Highway 19 where he saw the vehicles surrounding his son,” the email noted.

The child’s adventure resulted in no injuries or harm, deputies said.

And, while father and son received an escort home to make sure they were safe and sound, the case is now under review by the Florida Department of Children and Families, the sheriff’s office noted. The father’s name also has not been released by authorities.

Image via Shutterstock