PEA RIDGE (KFSM)--Police say approximately five homes were evacuated after a 12-year-old boy crashed a stolen car into a gas meter, causing it to break.
According to Pea Ridge Police Officer Mike Lira, the boy stole his mother’s 2002 Pontiac Grand Am and approximately $4,000 around 2 a.m. Sunday (March 11). Officer Lira said the boy lives in Fayetteville, and this is the seventh time he has been caught driving a car.
Officer Lira said most of the money was recovered but a couple hundred dollars he used to buy a tablet at a Walmart in Elm Springs.
Police said the boy went to change the radio station, and that’s when he drove off the road and into a gas meter near the intersection of Slack Street and Ellis Lane around 7:30 a.m.
Slack Street from Weston to Hallack has been closed for several hours, according to police. Utility crews are still on the scene working to fix the gas main.
The 12-year-old is facing charges of reckless driving and driving without a license, according to Officer Lira.