25 Year Old Minnesota Man Let His 8 Year Old Cousin Drive Then Blamed Him For Stealing The Keys

FOX- An Eagan, Minn. 25-year-old let his 8-year-old cousin drive his Jeep on Monday, then tried to blame the boy for taking his keys.

According to a complaint, St. Paul police responded to a collision at Atlantic Street and Reaney Avenue in St. Paul where the driver of a Buick said she was driving southbound on Duluth Street preparing to turn eastbound on Reaney when a Jeep struck her front left bumper after making a few abrupt U-turns. She then discovered there was a child driving the Jeep.

Blake Dominic Folson, 25, was apparently in the passenger seat, according to a witness, and said he appeared to be controlling the steering wheel with his arm while the child worked the pedals.

Folson first told police that his 8-year-old cousin had taken his keys and said he failed to stop him from driving off. The 8-year-old's sister called his bluff and said he frequently allows his young cousins to get behind the wheel, and was trying to blame his cousin in the incident. The cousin told the police that he was indeed driving the car, said, “it was stupid,” and then began to cry.

According to a preliminary breath test, Folson blew a .039 and admitted his initial story was untrue. The boy's mother said she wasn't aware Folson had allowed her child to drive. He has been charged with child endangerment.



Annnnd, there it is! I was reading this story and just kept saying "okay, when does the alcohol come into play?". Not going to lie, I almost lost faith. Almost thought this was a completely sober 25 year old forcing his 8 year old cousin to drive him around town. Would have been pretty hard to defend if that were the case. Thank God he had some beers in him before he put a 1st grader behind the wheel. It would have been extremely irresponsible if he was of sound mind when he conjured up that idea. Claiming you couldn't stop an 8 year old from driving a car is pretty inexcusable until you have about 6-8 cold ones in you, then it's absolutely legitimate.

This is a simple case of picking the lesser of two evils. Would you rather have a buzzed 25 year old driving around or a sober 8 year old? Like most 25 year olds, I am assuming this kid does most of his learning from television, and I haven't seen too many 'Young driving is drunk driving' commercials. Must have missed the 'Drive older or get pulled over' campaign. I guess this guy could have called a cab or got himself an Uber, but those cost money. According to every overseas business plan I have ever seen 8 year olds work free of charge. Plus, you don't know an 8 year old can't drive until you let him try, right? Aren't we supposed to have faith in our youth? What else are kids for if they aren't for exploiting for our benefit? Why do you think we have arbitrary ages for when it's legal for children to drive or make their own decisions? It's because they have to earn the right to do so by spending their childhood as a scapegoat. Are we suddenly not allowed to make children do all the things that we either don't feel like doing, or are too drunk to do efficiently? I got to plead ignorance on this one. I wish I knew this when I was forced to mow the lawn or rake the leaves. Might have to opt out on this whole 'child-rearing' thing if the rules have changed. If I can't trust my kid to take the wheel when I am falling off the wagon then what's the point of reproducing?