DOCUMENT: Florida, Stupid, Crime

Grandma Let Tyke Steer Car (With Obvious Results)

After boy, 3, crashed into vehicles, kin got busted

Child Driver

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Three-Year-Old Driver

SEPTEMBER 2--A woman who allowed her three-year-old grandson to steer her car is facing a child abuse charge after the tyke predictably crashed into other vehicles in an Orlando parking lot Sunday night.

Police were dispatched to an apartment complex around 6:30 PM after witnesses called 911 to report that “a small child was seen sitting on the lap of the driver while the crashes were occurring.”

When cops arrived at the parking lot, they found Volanda Cousar, 47, and “a 3 year old black male juvenile” standing next to a Chrysler sedan.

Witness Thomas Hannon told Orlando Police Department officers that he was in his apartment when he heard a loud crash. When he went outside to investigate, Hannon said, he saw the vehicle “crash head-on into a parked vehicle and then back into another parked vehicle.”

While the Chrysler was slamming into the other cars, Hannon could “clearly see a young child standing on the lap of V. Cousar in the front seat.” The child, Hannon added, “had both hands on the wheel and was clearly steering the vehicle.”

Police noted that Hannon “ran to the vehicle to confront V. Cousar and to prevent her from leaving the scene before officers arrived.”

Cousar was arrested and booked into the Orange County jail on the felony child abuse charge (she was also issued a citation for careless driving). The child’s grandfather took custody of him following Cousar’s collar.

Cousar, who bonded out of jail today after posting $2000 bond, is, like the boy, a New Jersey resident. They were apparently vacationing in Orlando. (2 pages)