MINNEAOLIS — A 9-year-old who eluded airport security and stowed away on a flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas should live away from his parents for now while he and his family get therapy and other services, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Hennepin County District Judge Joseph Klein granted the county’s petition to declare the boy a “child in need of protection or services,” starting the protection process under court supervision. He also ordered individual therapy for the boy and family therapy for his parents. Klein also granted the parents liberal visitation privileges.
The petition and other statements by his father and officials over the past two weeks described an escalating pattern of misbehavior since this summer. It started with running away and staying out overnight, suspensions from school for aggressive behavior and other issues, and sneaking into a YWCA swimming pool. Then, on Oct. 1, he stole a large delivery truck and damaged other vehicles, including a squad car, as he drove around town. The next day, he went to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where he stole a bag off a luggage carousel, went to a restaurant where he ordered food and drinks, then said he had to go to the bathroom. He left without paying and abandoned the bag.
He returned to the airport Oct. 3, blended in with a family to sneak past the security checkpoint without a boarding pass, slipped past a gate agent and took an empty seat on a Delta Air Lines flight. The flight crew became suspicious and turned him over to police in Las Vegas.
