A Michigan mother turned her 13-year-old son in to police after spotting him in social media videos allegedly stealing pickup trucks with a friend, according to WXYZ News.
Destini Ghee said her cousin sent her the clips, which appeared to show her son and another boy, 12, taking trucks from Elowsky Lawn Services in Waterford. The boys allegedly stole three Chevy Silverados — two with trailers — worth a combined $90,000, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Police Arrest Suspect In State Park Double Homicide)
“I’m hoping that him knowing this could have cost him his life — this could potentially cost him his freedom, his whole childhood — will wake him up,” Ghee told the outlet.
“We tried numerous… things to try to get him on the right path,” she continued. “I used to tell him, ‘No, I’d rather see you alive than dead, and getting you locked up, I know, is going to save your life.’”
Ghee said her son has had run-ins with trouble before, but nothing this serious. She told WXYZ the boy later confessed and said he needed to go to juvenile detention — though she hadn’t yet realized he was involved in the truck thefts.
“He just said, ‘I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have been doing and I need to go get help,’” she recalled.
The theft happened Sunday, and Ghee turned her son in two days later, the outlet reported.
He has been charged with unlawfully driving away an automobile and malicious destruction of property under $200, the Detroit Free Press reported. A court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.
The 12-year-old accused in the case has allegedly stolen and sold vehicles from local businesses before, according to the outlet.