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Jed Boal reportingA couple of boys had a lot of explaining to do after they used their Presidents' Day holiday to get into more than a little mischief.
While many kids traveled with their families or went skiing this Presidents' Day, two youngsters apparently went on a joy ride they won't soon forget.
Lt. Cal Kunz of the Salt Lake City Police Department said, "Definitely not a common event, fortunately, to have such a young offender behind the wheel of a stolen car."
Police had just received a report of stolen red truck near 900 South and 900 West. "One of our officers was actually in the area checking for it when the vehicle passed in the other direction," Kunz explained.
As the officer wheeled around, the driver of the stolen truck hit the gas. "At that point, he lost control of the truck and hit a fence," Kunz said.
The driver took off on foot, but police quickly chased him down. Turns out he's 13 years old, and his passenger is only 9. The driver was booked into juvenile detention and faces hit-and-run charges for hitting the fence, and charges for possession of drug paraphernalia.
The 9-year-old was released to a parent. Police were not sure of the relationship between the boys. "Fortunately he didn't go very far and we were able to quickly take him into custody, and no one was injured," Kunz said.
A witness tells us the owner of the truck came and moved it. Damage appeared to be minor.
