Toddler drives car after dad stops to get diaper bag

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A 2-year-old boy who was left alone in a running car with his younger sister took the opportunity to go for a drive.

Both children were unharmed Wednesday after the older child scrambled out of his car safety seat, got behind the steering wheel and went for a short drive before crashing into a neighbor's house.

The two were left in the 1988 Chrysler when their father went back into their home to get a diaper bag. No charges have been filed against the father.

When he returned to find the car had vanished, he immediately got into another car and called Springfield police, thinking his children had been abducted, said Officer Matt Brown, a police spokesman.

But the auto had rolled into neighbor Andre Brunnert's home, clipping Brunnert's vehicle en route.

How the boy maneuvered through three front yards and around a large oak tree before bashing into Brunnert's home may never be known.

Ruth Pingel rushed out of her house after hearing the crash about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Pingel found neighbor Sue Kelhoffer by the car, holding the children. "She reached in and grabbed the 2-year-old and didn't realize there was an infant in there until she heard it cry," Pingel said.

But there were no tears from the 2-year-old.

"That child must be precocious," Pingel said. "When he got out, he was acting like he was driving, not a tear in his eye."