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Child Takes SUV On Wild Ride In Parking Lot

MIDDLE SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP — Police in Monroe County say a 7 year old got behind the wheel of an SUV causing quite the commotion in a grocery store parkin...

MIDDLE SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP -- Police in Monroe County say a 7 year old got behind the wheel of an SUV causing quite the commotion in a grocery store parking lot.

It's a story most parents we talked to can't believe actually happened.

Police say a 7 year old was behind the wheel of an SUV while the mom was inside the Price Chopper on Wednesday.

A badly bent tree outside Price Chopper in Marshalls Creek is one of the telltale signs of a terrifying ordeal that happened there about 24 hours ago.

Police say a 7-year-old little girl got behind the wheel of a Dodge Journey and decided to take it for a spin.

It's a situation Joanne Crespo of Stroudsburg says she can't' imagine happening right near where she parked her motorcycle.

"I just think that it's crazy somebody leaving their children in the car like that, unattended. You don't do that," Crespo said.

State police say Wednesday around 3:40 p.m. the 7 year old jumped in the driver's seat while a 3-year-old girl was in the back seat. The keys were in the ignition while the mother went inside Price Chopper.

Inside Frank's Pizza just across the parking lot from where it all happened, waitress and mother Tabitha Thompson says she saw the commotion after the SUV was safely in park, thankful that nothing worse happened.

"One of my biggest fears, I mean this is a crazy world, a child could be taken. I mean this obviously was on a smaller scale. Thank God nobody got hurt. It would have been really bad."

Even though the child behind the wheel took out a tree and hit a barrier before crashing into the building, police say no one was hurt and luckily the airbags didn't deploy.

Bricks are still missing from the side of the building, shaking a mom of three from Bushkill.

"I just know that's something I would never do. It's just a 7 year old, and a 3 year old, no not even for a minute," said Angela Wright.

Police are investigating and have not said if charges will be filed.

Some in Marshalls Creek say they think this parent has already learned a tough lesson.

"I think she got rattled enough by what happened but if there's any property damage, she should be responsible for it, definitely."

Price Chopper says they have cameras in the parking lot where all of this happened, but couldn't tell us if the whole ordeal was caught on camera.

No charges have been filed against the mother at this time.

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