Mom arrested for letting 9-year-old drive to school

Imagine the surprise of the adult at W. Riely Brown Elementary School in Dover, Del., who saw a 1990 Toyota Corolla pull into the parking lot-with a child in the driver's seat.

Dover police said they arrested the 9-year-old's mother, Tammy Oneal, 34, for allowing the child to drive to school.

Oneal was charged with one count of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, according to Dover Police Capt. Tim Stump. Oneal was released on $1,000 unsecured bail.

Police were called at about 8:10 a.m. Tuesday to the school in response to a complaint about a child driver. An adult in the lot reported that she witnessed the car pull in, the driver's side door swing open, and a child emerge from the front seat.

The same adult then reporter she saw Oneal emerge from the passenger's seat, and walk around to the driver's side and get in, police say.

Meanwhile, the child headed to class.

Oneal lives in the Pine Grove Apartments on Webbs Lane, just about one-quarter mile directly down the street from the school. Stump said police realize that the drive wasn't very long.

"But it was a very irresponsible decision on the part of the parent, to say the least, to allow her 9-year-old to operate a vehicle on a roadway where there were other small children around," Stump added.

Her reason, according to Stump:

"He was begging her to drive and she just let him."