A father landed in trouble with police after he let his 8-year-old son ride a Jet Ski alone off the coast of Florida.
The Sarasota Police Department posted a video on its social media that shows officers encountering the boy and his father on June 14 off the coast of Lido Key on the Gulf Coast.
Officers with the Marine Patrol Unit were out on the water when they spotted the young boy alone. They noted several other vessels were also out despite rough currents.
“Where’s your parents?” a cop asked.
The boy pointed to his dad and the police officers asked him to take them to him.
Cops followed the boy to his dad and confronted him.
“That’s your son on the Jet Ski?” the officer asked. “What’s going on with that?”
The dad seemed to know he was busted.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” he told the cop. “I really don’t think he’s legal to ride, right? But we’ve had Jet Skis on the lake for the last few years and he’s very proficient.”
Officers asked how old the boy was, and the father confirmed he was 8 years old.
“And you thought he was legal out here?”
In fact, the boy was not legally allowed to operate a personal watercraft, cops said. Kids must be at least 14 years old to drive one. Cops charged the father, whom they did not identify, with a second-degree misdemeanor, and he will have to appear in court at a later date.
Cops did not immediately release other details.
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