CRESTVIEW, Fla. — A nine-year-old child allegedly seen driving a car in Crestview ended in the arrest of a man who is accused of being a passenger in the vehicle, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has announced.
According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), Alexander Berrios, 22, of Brickhill Court, allegedly asked the child to drive him to his house. He has been charged with one count of child neglect without great bodily harm.
The OCSO said a witness spotted a car entering Oak Hill Road from a neighborhood around 8 a.m. Sunday and suspected the driver was impaired due to the vehicle being all over the roadway.
The witness then reportedly cut off the car near the intersection of State Road 85 and Old Bethel Road and found a child behind the wheel. The witness said he told the child to get in the passenger seat and pulled the car into a convenience store parking lot.
The OCSO said the child told its deputies that Berrios asked him to drive him home and had pointed out directions along the nearly seven-mile trip.
The child was on his way back to his own home alone and had traveled nearly three miles when the witness intervened, the OCSO said.
According to the OCSO report, Berrios told deputies his decision was a “mistake” but would not elaborate.
When contacted, the child’s mother says she was not aware the boy had left the home, the OCSO said.
“We want to express our sincere gratitude to the witness who noticed something was wrong and intervened, potentially preventing a tragedy involving a child,” said Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden.
