‘Incredibly motivated' fourth grader takes flight

[dragon wench]

'Incredibly motivated' fourth grader takes flight

Lakewood, Wash. — A nine-year-old boy with a history of stealing cars and running away sneaked onto a plane bound for Texas, getting caught after flubbing an airport connection, officials said.

Semaj Booker apparently found a Southwest Airlines boarding card and made it through airport security Tuesday, hopping two separate flights but landing in San Antonio, Texas — short of his Dallas destination, police said.

“The only thing I have to offer on that is that we're looking into it,” Southwest spokeswoman Beth Harbin said.

The fourth-grader remained Wednesday in juvenile custody in San Antonio. He had been trying to get to his grandfather in Dallas, where he used to live.

Southwest Airlines' boarding policy, which invites people to board in groups instead of by assigned seats, may have aided Semaj, Lakewood police Lieutenant David B. Guttu said. He said he didn't know whether the boy had a ticket.

The boy was unhappy after his family moved to Lakewood, outside Tacoma. His odyssey began Sunday when he stole a car that was left running outside a neighbor's house, only to be spotted by police near the interchange of Interstate 5 and State Route 512.

Police pursued Semaj at speeds up to 144 kilometres an hour until he took an exit and the engine blew, after which the car went over a curb and coasted into a tree. He refused to come out of the car, so officers broke a window to unlock a door and immediately recognized him as a frequent runaway and car thief, Lt. Guttu said.

Last month he also crashed a stolen car before being caught by police in Tacoma, and more recently he was caught in Seattle in a stolen car that had run out of gas, said his mother, Sakinah Booker.

She believes he learned to drive from playing video games on a PlayStation.

Ms. Booker said she had hoped to soon move her four sons back to Dallas, but Semaj grew tired of waiting.

Semaj was “incredibly motivated to get to Texas,” Lt. Guttu said. “He doesn't want to live in Washington state.”

Ms. Booker said her son dislikes the neighbourhood where the family lives and is afraid of a sex offender who lives nearby.

“He does not like it here at all,” she said.

That's one determined kid!

[Magrus]

*shakes my head* There is obviously something seriously wrong there for a 9 year old to risk his life stealing a car and getting into a police chase to leave his parents and travel thousands of miles via airplane. The fact "afraid of sex offender" came up could be something very important there.

To be honest, this disturbs me. Maybe it's just my experiences with my parents, but they never took me seriously when I told them something was wrong, so I had to act on my own. I remember skipping the bus ride to summer camp one year for 2 weeks because a camp counselor grabbed a 8 year old kid by the arms and swung his legs into a 4x4 post, breaking one of the boys legs at the knee. I told my parents that night, and it was brushed aside as a "childhood fancy". They seemed to forget the conversation when my mom got a call at work wondering why her younger son was showing up for camp and I wasn't. My previous statement, or intelligence in trying to look out for myself was never considered in the following lecture. Simply the fact I was wasting my parents money.

If a 9 year old has a history of being a "car thief" and snuck onto 2 airplanes and flew over 1000 miles to get to his grandfather, something has to be really wrong there. Kids may run away for a few hours at that age to get attention and come home at dark or for dinner. On rare occasions they may hide somewhere over night. They just don't up and steal vehicles to run away on a whim. I've known only one person that pulled something like that, and that was Cassie when she was 16 after getting into a brutally violent altercation with her mother and fearing for her life when her father found out about. There is a huge difference between 9 and 16 in maturity level and survival skills however. Not to mention height and the ability to drive and operate a vehicle. I am now incredibly curious how the 9 year old managed to operate the car, 9 year olds are pretty small, how did he see over the steering wheel and reach the pedals??!

[Luis Antonio]

Poor kid. Gotta be scared to run that way. Btw, congratulations US airport security, he could be a little terrorist, carrying a bomb. Not that they care.

[Vicsun]

I can't help but be incredibly impressed by that child's ability and ambition. When I was that age I was likely picking my nose and eating the snot. I somehow wish I was hijacking planes instead.

[Cartell]

It just further shows how inept our governement is. And I agree with Magrus in that, how the did he learn how to drive a car, if he's only nine. His mother said she thought he learned from videogames, are you serious? Besides to already be characterized as a car thief at nine is extreme.

[Vicsun]

Originally Posted by Cartell

It just further shows how inept our governement is.

How does the government fit into the story? Are you referring to the fact the child is in juvenile custody?

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Vicsun

I can't help but be incredibly impressed by that child's ability and ambition. When I was that age I was likely picking my nose and eating the snot. I somehow wish I was hijacking planes instead.

That was more or less my reaction when I read the story At nine years old, any thoughts of flight like that came from whatever book I happened to be reading at the time.

I agree with Mag though.... there has to be a lot more going on here than initially meets the eye..