WATERLOO, Iowa—An Iowa father whose 12-year-old son struck a 4-year-old boy while driving the man’s car has been sent to prison.
Black Hawk County District Court records say 34-year-old Jesse Azbill pleaded guilty to child endangerment and aiding and abetting serious injury by auto on Friday, Sept. 13. He was sentenced to seven years.
Police say Azbill had given his son permission to drive the vehicle, and Azbill was in it when the little boy was struck on Aug. 6 while riding a bicycle in Waterloo. The boy was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City for treatment. His name hasn’t been released.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Azbill told the court Friday that he was sorry and said: “I will never let a kid get behind the wheel again.”
4 Children Steal Parent’s Car and Run Away on 600-Mile Road Trip
In another related news, four children aged 10 to 14 packed fishing rods in a parent’s SUV, left a farewell note then drove more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) down the Australian east coast before they were stopped by police the next day after two fuel thefts and one aborted pursuit, officers said on July 15.
When police stopped the children near Grafton in the state of New South Wales at 10:40 p.m. on July 14, they locked the doors and refused to get out, Acting Police Inspector Darren Williams said. A police officer used a baton to break a window of the 2004 Nissan Patrol, which had been reported stolen by worried parents, Williams said.
The children are a 14-year-old boy, two 13-year-old boys, and a 10-year-old girl.
Williams said they possibly shared the driving. “It’s a long way, in excess of 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Rockhampton down to Grafton. I couldn’t imagine one person actually driving all that way in two days,” Williams told reporters.
The children are suspected of failing to pay for their fuel at Outback gas stations in the Queensland town of Banana and the New South Wales town of Warialda, police said.
