A seven-year-old who led police on a car chase told his father he was driven by his desperation to avoid attending church.
Police were alerted by a concerned driver in Weber County, Utah, who reported the reckless driving of a large Dodge Intrepid saloon, before witnessing it drive straight through a junction without stopping.
However, when officers took up the chase to try and stop the religious runaway, the child kept on driving.
He scooted across a car park, then shot across a number of junctions without stopping - hitting speeds of 40mph - before pulling up in a random driveway and running through the open garage to take sanctuary on the first floor.
And when officers brought the truant tot home, his father had no idea that either his son or the family car had been missing.
Weber County Sheriff's Captain Klint Anderson confirmed the child had racked up "a few near misses", but had not actually crashed into anything.
"Most kids fake illness," he added.
"They don't take the car and go out joyriding."
