A 14-year-old from northeastern France stole his parents’ car and caused a mad chase on a highway, running at 180 kilometers, French justice said today.

The teenager, who has no criminal record, will be arraigned in juvenile court within the next two months. He is charged with theft, robbery, driving without a license, endangerment and several other traffic violations, according to the Montbéliard prosecutor.

The police chased him for 61.5 kilometers. The young man “did a slalom between the cars, he was running in the emergency lane at 180 km”, the prosecutor said, amazed. He then reversed onto the LEA and ended up losing control of the vehicle. Nevertheless, he continued to flee on foot but was apprehended by the authorities in a village near Dol.

His dangerous driving caused an accident involving a patrol car and two other cars, leaving three people with minor injuries.

After being taken into custody, he apologized, the prosecutor said. “The child is unable to give clear explanations of the events (…) He says he had problems in high school, but does not say what kind. The amazing thing is that he was able to press full throttle and be pursued for so many kilometers,” commented the prosecutor.

The child “comes from an ordinary family, without problems” and had not given a reason, except for a case of molestation, together with other minors, for which an alternative procedure was followed. After schools reopened this year, he had missed it several times.