5-year-old backs car into traffic while driving 3-year-old sibling, Texas cops say

A 5-year-old drove their father’s car onto a road as he shopped inside a Family Dollar store, Texas deputies say.

The child’s 3-year-old sibling was also discovered to be in the car, which the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said had backed out of the parking lot of the store on Monday, Sept. 9.

According to a report from the sheriff’s office, witnesses saw the younger child exit the car as it was in the San Antonio road. The child was picked up by bystanders, authorities said.

The 5-year-old then put the car into drive and reentered the parking lot, running into a curb, deputies said.

The father of the children, deputies said, later told investigators he had left his children unattended in the vehicle with the ignition on as he shopped inside the store “for less than ten minutes.”

“The father stated he was alerted by staff his vehicle had moved and crashed in the parking lot,” according to the sheriff’s report.

Deputies said the children were not injured and no damage was done to any vehicles or property.

The 41-year-old father was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office. Charges were not announced.