A middle school educator was shocked to see her car missing after parking it near the school she works at in the city’s South Ward on Thursday afternoon, according to parents of Hawthorne Avenue School, who contacted RLS Media.
The incident happened around noon when firefighters were called to the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue and Homestead Street after residents in the area reported that a car was smoking after being involved in a crash at that location, according to parents.
Fire crews rushed to the scene where they immediately extinguished the small blaze, but could not find the driver of the car.
According to reports, witnesses told authorities that the driver was a young boy who fled the scene immediately after the crash.
A search of the vehicle’s registration revealed that the owner was a female Hawthorne Avenue Middle School teacher.
According to parents, the teacher reportedly believed that the vehicle was towed away due to a street cleaning violation after she went out during her lunch break and did not see her car.
The teacher was later made aware that her car was involved in a crash and the suspect was a boy around the age of 13, and according to parents, the suspect was a student in her class.
Police arrested the teen several hours later. He was taken to the hospital for an evaluation, and then released to the custody of his parents.
The boy reportedly stole the keys from the teacher's desk and then walked out of the class. He then exited the school building where he located the teacher's car (which was parked about a block away) and just drove away.
It is not immediately clear how the boy was able to leave the building during the school day.
The teacher declined to comment for this report.