Scionlife.com - xA joyride!

Boys safe after Queens joyride
Twelve-year-old who took mom's car for a spin with his brother, 7, in tow found at friend's home
BY LISETH PEREZ ALMEIDA
HOY STAFF WRITER

November 10, 2006
Kenneth Rodriguez didn't care that it was getting late in the day or that it was rainy outside.

The 12-year-old from Kew Gardens Hills took his mother's car keys, and with his 7-year-old brother in tow, drove through the streets of Queens Wednesday night before the boys were found safe and unharmed at a friend's house.
Yesterday, a day after the boys' wild adventure, Kenneth's mother, Carolina Rivas, sent Kenneth to spend the day with his father. Kenneth's brother, Miguel Pepin, 7, remained with his mother.

"It was fun," Miguel said yesterday. "I wasn't scared."

Authorities searched for hours Wednesday night for Kenneth and Miguel after the family reported that the boys had disappeared from their house.

Kenneth had an argument with his mother earlier that afternoon because of his bad behavior in school, said Rivas, 33, a nurse at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in Flushing.

After Rivas fell asleep about 4 p.m., Kenneth decided to go visit some of his friends nearby, she said.

"When I realized I was missing my car keys, I knew what he was doing immediately because he has an obsession with cars," Rivas said. "He's always talking and reading on the Internet about cars. He always said, 'I know how to drive,' but not me or his father has ever taught him."

About 11:30 p.m., the brother of one of the boys' friends called Rivas to say that her two sons were with them in their Elmhurst home. The boys were reunited with their mom.

Police did not file any charges against Kenneth.

And while the boys were unharmed and the car, a 2006 Scion xA was not damaged, Rivas vowed that things at home will not be the same again.

"I never will leave my keys on the table again," Rivas said.