Local

Girl, 6, crashes car in bid to see dad

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police said a determined 6-year-old girl didn't hurt anyone when she crashed her mother's car while trying to drive across town to visit her father.

Police haven't released the name of the girl whose mother was reportedly still sleeping when the girl took the woman's car keys about 9 a.m. Sunday.

Police Sgt. Jerry Parker said the little girl is tall for her age, though that doesn't quite explain how she learned to drive, saying, "How she knew how to operate a car, your guess is as good as mine."

Channel 11’s Alan Jennings talked to Rommie Hawkins, who told Jennings he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a 6-year-old girl driving a BMW.

“I jumped over like this when she hit the curb and then she bounced off the curb and started going this way,” Hawkins said. “I was running with it.”

Hawkins, who used to play running back at the University of Tennessee, told Jennings he chased the car along Woodbine Street in Stanton Heights.

“I was running and telling her to stop. She looked at me and just looked back,” Hawkins said.

According to police, the girl hit two parked vehicles, pushing one of them into a third, before eventually coming to a stop after hitting a utility pole.

“We heard a boom when she hit the vehicle,’ Hawkins said. “Then I was up there to grab her and pull her out. I turned the key off and put the car in park. She was still trying to drive.”

Police and the girl's father arrived to take her home after the accident.

Authorities are still investigating, but haven't said if anyone will face charges.