Two Utah Girls, 9 & 4, Borrow Family Car To ‘Swim With Dolphins’ In California

Two young girls in Utah took their parents’ car for a joyride because they wanted to go on a “summer adventure” to swim with dolphins in California, according to police.

The sisters, aged 9 and 4, woke up early Wednesday morning, snuck out of their home through the basement and took the family’s Chevy Malibu, ABC4 reported.

They travelled roughly 10 miles, from West Jordan to West Valley City, before sideswiping a car and then colliding with a semi-truck, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. No one was injured, and police said both girls were wearing seatbelts.

Police in West Valley City said in a tweet that officers got quite the surprise when they responded to the accident and discovered the driver was a 9-year-old girl. Her younger sister was in the passenger seat.

The girls snagged the keys while the parents were asleep to “set out on their own summer adventure,” the tweet said.

“They talked about going to California to swim with dolphins and go to the beach and they woke up at three in the morning,” West Jordan Police Detective Scott List told ABC4. 

The driver of the truck called police after seeing one car sideswipe another, believing the driver was impaired. He followed the car, which then crashed into his truck, the Tribune reported. He was surprised to discover a child behind the wheel. 

“First thing I did was look for the parents” when he got to the scene, List said. “Then I saw the car and the whole front end was gone and I was like ‘oh no’ and then I looked over again and I saw two little girls in the front seat.”

Their parents had mentioned a potential California vacation, which may have inspired the kids’ plan, ABC4 said.