He’s riding solo.
A wild video has surfaced showing a young boy in Florida independently navigating a jet ski earlier this month. The situation prompted police intervention to bring him back to shore safely.
As seen in the footage, an officer from the Sarasota Police Department approaches the 8-year-old on June 14, asking, “Where’s your parents?” as the boy steers past a police boat.
The video captures the boy pointing toward the shore, indicating his father’s location.
Officers accompanied the young jet skier back to his father to question him about allowing his son to ride unaccompanied.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t know. I really don’t think he’s legal to ride, right?” the boy’s father sheepishly tells the cops.
“But we have been using jet skis on the lake for the past few years. He’s very proficient,” the boy’s dad insists.
Florida law stipulates that individuals must be at least 14 years old to operate a personal watercraft.
The father was charged with a misdemeanor, authorities reported.
Officer Ron Dixon, who responded to the incident, told FOX 35 that the boy riding unattended was in a risky situation.
“If he would have been side by side with an adult, it probably would have been different. It would have been educational. This kid was off by himself. [There’s] so many different factors,” Dixon told the outlet.
The department encouraged those operating personal watercraft to take safety precautions, especially ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
