Boy, 7, Says He Stole SUV To Do "Hood Rat Stuff" (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

WFTV ^ | 4/28/2008 | n/a

[Pyro7480]

...Latarian Milton is not your typical 7-year-old. Few his age have ever driven an SUV up and down several busy streets. It all started at his mother's townhouse.

Latarian said he took the car keys and hopped into his grandmother's Dodge Durango....

"I took my grandmother's car because I got mad at my mom. And I saw my friend come in and he smoke cigarettes. He started the vehicle and put it into gear. I yanked. I yanked it. I yanked the thing and off they went," Latarian said.

Latarian drove several miles through Lake Park and Palm Beach Gardens.

"We got the one call that I told you about of a driver in the vehicle who looked too short to see over the steering wheel," said Ellen Lovejoy, Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.

Along the way, he ran over two mailboxes, hit two park cars in a Costco parking lot and struck two moving cars near a Wal-Mart.

"I wanted to do it because it's fun, fun to do bad things, to drive into a car," Latarian said. "I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friend."

It all ended on Investment Lane and Consumer Drive. That's where Latarian hit the curb and sideswiped a sign. The SUV took most of the beating, snapping off one of its axels and wheels.

"I want to whip his behind. That's what I want to do right now. If I thought they wouldn't take me to jail, I'd whip his behind right now," Stratford said.

Latarian was charged with grand theft auto, but investigators said he probably won't be prosecuted.

[Pyro7480]

The video is set to become a YouTube hit: Seven-year-old goes on joyride

[Puppage]

Latarian?

[utherdoul]

My dad has him beat he started a car rolled down a hill and I think he trashed a few things on the way when he was three.

[Puppage]

"I wanted to do it because it's fun, fun to do bad things, to drive into a car," Latarian said. "I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friend."

Florida Sate Correctional resident, 2018.

[wideawake]

"I wanted to do it because it's fun, fun to do bad things"

Ah, the joy of a community without fathers.

[ClearCase_guy]

"He was a quiet boy. It seemed like he was getting his life in order. We're all so shocked by this." -- Wait, I think you have to be 17 or 18 before those cliches get used.

Maybe we can fall back on "Kids do the darndest things!"

[OB1kNOb]

He’s just different. Like a snowflake.

[Poetgal26]

What is this world coming to and where are the parents????

[MrB]

Someone’s doing some effective modeling for this model citizen to be.

[MrB]

His mother’s baby-daddy isn’t allowed to be a “parent” because Uncle Sugar would take away the free money.

[freespirited]

Florida Sate Correctional resident, 2018.

And a stint or two in juvie before that.

[Red_Devil 232]

You blame it all on the right side of the brain.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

IF he doesn’t pass away due to excessive lead poisoning in multiple .45 caliber doses before then..

[MrB]

Read more at wftv.com

Isn't that supposed to be "wtftv.com"?

[theFIRMbss]

>The video is set to become a YouTube hit

"Grand Theft Auto" hailed as "masterpiece"

[Constitution Day]

He needs a hickory switch to the behind!

[vpintheak]

What a shame on this culture.

[MrB]

Liberals would call that “child abuse”.

Prov 22:15: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

has become
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but a timeout shall drive it far from him.”

[CougarGA7]

I yanked. I yanked it. I yanked the thing and off they went,"

This could be taken out of context.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"Grand Theft Auto - VII"

[6ppc]

I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friend

He wanted to do hood democrat stuff with his friend??? WTF?

[contemplator]

If I thought they wouldn't take me to jail, I'd whip his behind right now"

Here she alludes to part of a larger societal problem. Parents don't feel they can discipline their children anymore and kids understand and abuse that fact. I draw a line between discipline and abuse and don't believe they are one and the same. I believe that a lack of discipline and structure in a child's life is a form of abuse. Something tells me that in this particular case the boy got that whipping anyway at home once the cameras were all gone.

[raccoonradio]

But hear what he has to say on the video: He thinks his punishment should be no video games for a weekend.
Yeah, that’s strict...

[tcrlaf]

“If I thought they wouldn’t take me to jail, I’d whip his behind right now,”

And therein lies the problem, folks....

We now live in world where the children roam free as savages because the parents are too frightened of the Government to discipline them.

[theDentist]

"...If I thought they wouldn't take me to jail, I'd whip his behind right now," Stratford said.

Ah liberalism... makes parents and grandparents afraid to punish their own kids. He'll do it again. Why not? He's not likely to be prosecuted, there's no punishment in store for him.....

[metmom]

Latarian?

Time for a name ping

[Poetgal26]

Oh pleazzeeee
I swear they should make parents take a parenting class before their child are born

[ModelBreaker]

It all ended on Investment Lane and Consumer Drive.

Somehow, that seems appropriate.

[metmom]

Why would someone name their kid something that sounded so much like *latrine*?

It sets him up for life.

[contemplator]

No punishment? He wont be able to play Grand Theft Auto this weekend, isn’t that enough? Of course, since he already committed grand theft auto for real he won’t miss it for a while.

[MrB]

Don’t fall into the trap of “more requirements” when government/liberal interference is the cause of this situation in the first place.

Take away the incentive to have kids out of wedlock, and you’ll get fewer of them. You’ll get parents that are more involved in their children’s lives, and you’ll get parents who protect their female offspring better to keep them out of situations that lead to parentless children.

[CougarGA7]

He’s just different. Like a snowflake.

Fixed it.

[Cinnamon Girl]

And where is Latrine’s father in this story?

[raccoonradio]

>>"a driver in the vehicle who looked too short to see over the steering wheel"

"And I thought, "Did Robert Reich move down here?" :)

[Poetgal26]

It was just a thought....am sorry I was just venting outloud, I didn’t mean to come across as a leftest, which I am not!

[Puppage]

Sounds like an occupation, not a name.

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

ping for later viewing...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You can almost bet on it.

[DemforBush]

Good lord, what have they been feeding that kid? He’s got a double chin already!

[garyhope]

Something must be done to stop these wacky hooligan Amish “youts” from running wild in the streets!!

[GovernmentShrinker]

That is one HUGE 7 year old. See the second picture in the photos accompanying the linked article, where he pictured next to some adults. The court should be checking on this kid’s actual age before making any decisions about how to proceed with him.

[peeps36]

Latarian already has a bed reserved for him at the juvenile prison. I guess he is the perfect example of reverend Wright's black brain disorder. He can learn how to play video games and steal a SUV for hood rat activities but he can't learn proper English or proper behavior.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

He’ll be robbin’ 7/11s with a gun by the time he’s 10. And by that time, he’ll be 6’1” and weigh 240.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Indeed, and the quote from grandma proves your point:

"I want to whip his behind. That's what I want to do right now. If I thought they wouldn't take me to jail, I'd whip his behind right now," Stratford said.

The out of control kids understand this just as well as the parents and grandparents, and set their limits for misbehavior accordingly..

[MrB]

It’s so easy to slip into a leftist “solution”. They’ve insinuated their ideology into our mindset so much that you have to double think your first reaction.

A good economics training base helps to counter this brainwashing that we’ve all experienced.

Thomas Sowell is the antidote. His Basic Econ and Applied Econ (thinking beyond stage one) changed the way I think about all issues.

You have to look at the incentives that a “solution” will cause, and conversely, you have to look at a problem as a result of some incentive causing policy in the past.

This boy’s attitude is directly attributable to the welfare culture, which in turn was caused by some “liberal solution”.

(I maintain that there isn’t one problem we face today that isn’t the result of some liberal policy.)

[GovernmentShrinker]

I think he’s pretty close to the 240 already. Did you look at the pix? If this kid ever hits 6’1” he won’t weigh an ounce under 400.

[garyhope]

I was going to say “future criminal”, but heck, the kid is already a criminal with a criminal mindset. How long before his first drive by murder or drug deal?

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Had my daughter threaten me with this...once.

I told her that if she was going to call DCFS, I’d have to provide them a real good reason to prosecute.

Tough love works.

[Hacklehead]

He’s just different. Like a snowflake.

[taraytarah]

"I wanted to do it because it's fun, fun to do bad things, to drive into a car," Latarian said. "I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friend."

In his little bad-fun spree, the little punk's lucky he didn't get some serious "hood rat" injuries.