8-year-old highway driver in St. Paul had run away last week

A week before an 8-year-old boy from St. Paul drove a car on the interstate Tuesday, shocking motorists for several miles, he ran away from home and put the city on alert.

The boy who drove a 1992 Buick Roadmaster from St. Paul to Mounds View with two passengers, ages 3 and 5, is the same boy who rode his gold-colored mountain bike early last week from the East Side to an uncle's house on the West Side, authorities have confirmed.

"It's pretty miraculous that this didn't end with any injuries or worse," Minnesota State Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Tiffani Nielson said of Tuesday's early morning drive.

Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos said the boy from the daring drive has a history of running away.

St. Paul police issued a plea on social media about 9 a.m. April 21 for the public's help in finding the boy after he failed to return home the day before. He was found safe by 10:30 a.m.

It's unclear where the boy was headed Tuesday when motorists started flooding 911 with calls about a car swerving in the northbound lanes of Interstate 35E at Hwy. 36.

The calls came in about 5:56 a.m., before the brunt of rush hour traffic.

The driver and his passengers, a 5-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother, weren't wearing seat belts.

"I cannot recall a time I've heard of an 8-year-old in Minnesota or anywhere else operating a vehicle this distance," said Nielson, who has been with the patrol for 11 years. "It's incredibly fortunate that there wasn't a collision."

One motorist followed the boy while staying on the phone with 911. Nielson credited that driver and other motorists who called with helping authorities safely end the ride. They provided detailed information, and no one tried to stop the boy on the road, which likely would have caused more problems, she said.

The boy pulled into a random driveway at Woodcrest Drive and Eastwood Road about 6:20 a.m. A trooper quietly pulled up and blocked the vehicle, the squad's lights and sirens turned off.

"They were pretty calm," Nielson said of the children. "There was no problem, no behavioral issues."

Ramsey County spokesman John Siqveland said that Ramsey County Child Protection staff took custody of the children Tuesday, and that an investigation was launched.

The children's foster family reported the children and car missing about the time they were intercepted in Mounds View, Nielson said.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib