Ohio Boy, 9, Taken Into Custody After Stealing, Crashing Grandmother's Car

A nine-year-old boy may face charges of grand theft auto after he stole his grandmother's van and went on a 20-mile joyride which saw him hit speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.

Concerned members of the public called Ohio police about a car being driven recklessly through parts of Vandalia, Dayton and Tipp City from around 2.30 p.m. on Saturday, according to WHIO TV.

Officers tried to get the boy to pull the car over, but he refused. Police did not know that the driver was so young and declined to give chase because of the danger it might pose other drivers.

The boy left the I-75 in Tipp City but when he got caught up in traffic at a stop light, he tried to go between two vehicles and came to a halt after he crashed into one of them.

Sergeant Jeff Kramer of Ohio State Highway Patrol said: "I saw him come up the ramp here and he actually stopped at the red light, he had his turn signal on and I mean he was adhering with some of the traffic laws that he's learned in his nine years," ABC affiliate News 9 reported.

"It turned out it was a nine-year-old boy from Dayton who stole his grandma's vehicle unbeknownst to her and just decided to go for a joy ride.

"He's fortunate that he didn't hurt himself. He was not buckled in because he wouldn't have been able to see over the dashboard if he was," he added.

No one was injured in the dramatic drive and he was released to his grandmother.

However, the boy could face a list of traffic charges, including grand theft auto in Miami County Juvenile Court, WHIO reported.

"When you're nine years old you don't need to have a constant eye on him. He can fend for himself for the most part and [she] thought he was in another room doing other things and she went outside and noticed her car was gone," said Kramer.

The minimum driving age varies from state to state in the U.S. In Ohio, you have to be at least 15 years and six months to get a learners' permit, 16 to hold a restricted license and 18 to hold a full license.

In August, an even younger boy went on a high-speed joyride along a motorway in Germany.

The unnamed eight-year-old from Soest, in the west of the country, took his family's VW Golf and drove towards the city of Dortmund, hitting speeds of up to 87 miles per hour.

When police caught up with him, he told officers: "I just wanted to drive a little."