An 11-year-old boy with autism crashed a vehicle into a concrete traffic barrier outside a 7-Eleven on Gordon Road in Riverview Sunday night, after his mother allowed him to drive there from the family's home and supervised him behind the wheel, according to deputies. Nobody was hurt, but both the car and the convenience store building were damaged in the crash, which happened around 8:35 p.m.
Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office say the boy mistook the gas pedal for the brake as he approached the store, sending the car into the barrier. His mother, 41-year-old Carribean Myers, was arrested after the crash and now faces charges including felony child abuse, according to HCSO.
Investigators also disclosed that Myers' own driver's license had been invalid since July 13, roughly a month before the crash, meaning neither she nor her son was legally authorized to be behind the wheel that night. The sheriff's office says this was not an isolated lapse — investigators say Myers had previously allowed her underage children to drive without a valid license before Sunday's crash.
Sheriff Calls Decision Reckless
Sheriff Chad Chronister said putting an 11-year-old behind the wheel was reckless and could have ended in tragedy. He said the mother made a dangerous decision that put her child and everyone around them at risk, adding that parents have a responsibility to protect their children and that his office will hold accountable anyone who puts a child in danger.
In addition to felony child abuse, Myers was formally charged under Florida Statute § 322.35 for permitting an unauthorized minor to drive, a second-degree misdemeanor. Under Florida law, that misdemeanor carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to the Fight Your Ticket legal resource. The felony child abuse charge, filed under Florida Statute § 827.03, is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine, per the Law Office of Leanna J. Smith.
Why Felony Charges Applied Despite No Injuries
Florida statutory law defines child abuse broadly enough to include intentional acts that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child, which allows prosecutors to pursue felony charges even when no one is actually hurt, according to legal guidance published by Key West Criminal Defense. That standard appears to explain why Myers faces a felony despite the crash leaving everyone involved physically unharmed.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data shows pedal misapplication — confusing the accelerator for the brake — remains a leading driver error among novice and unlicensed operators involved in crashes into buildings and barriers, a pattern consistent with what happened outside the Gordon Road store. Statewide, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles figures show teenage drivers aged 15 to 19 make up only about 5% of the state's licensed drivers yet are involved in roughly 11% of all crashes, underscoring how much riskier inexperienced driving can be even among teens who are legally licensed, let alone an 11-year-old who was not.
Part of a Pattern of Child Endangerment Cases
The case adds to a string of child endangerment prosecutions Chronister's office has pursued in Hillsborough County this year. In January, the sheriff announced child abuse charges against two school bus employees after video captured a bus aide repeatedly abusing a 10-year-old student with autism while the driver failed to intervene. Hoodline has also reported on a jailed Tampa teacher and covered a Brandon woman charged in a toddler's death, part of a broader run of HCSO child abuse prosecutions this summer.
The crash unfolded in Riverview, an unincorporated Hillsborough County community that has become one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the Tampa Bay region — expanding from 71,050 residents in 2010 to 107,396 by 2020, with an estimated population of 116,251 this year, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact HCSO at 813-247-8200, though the sheriff's office notes its social media accounts are not monitored around the clock.
