Pets

Florida's 4-Legged Driver Gets Behind Wheel, Makes Cops Dizzy

A car circled a Florida cul-de-sac over and over in reverse, plowing over a mailbox and knocking over some trash cans.

A circled a cul-de-sac several times — in reverse — several times before police Port St. Lucie, Florida, could stop it.
A circled a cul-de-sac several times — in reverse — several times before police Port St. Lucie, Florida, could stop it. (Photo and video via Port St. Lucie Police Department)

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL — Max didn’t have a license to even be behind the wheel. And he didn’t get a ticket, although he damaged a mailbox and knocked over a few trash cans during a joyride around a Port St. Lucie cul-de-sac Thursday.

And Max couldn’t get a driver’s license, even if he tried. It’s not because he’s a bad driver, although the carnage suggests he is. Max is a dog.

Police said the person who actually is licensed to drive the 2003 Mercury Sable stepped out and left the engine running, and it appears Max knocked the gear shifter into reverse. The door locked automatically, and the driver was unable to get inside.

Find out what's happening in West Palm Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Senior Sgt. Lisa Marie Carrasquillo of the Port St. Lucie Police Department told Patch one theory is that Max wanted to follow his owner.

“If he stood up and maybe tapped the pedal a little bit, maybe trying to get out, maybe trying to follow the owner,” she said.

Find out what's happening in West Palm Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When police arrived, Max’s owner handed them an extra key fob, but its battery was dead. So Max continued to circle the cul-de-sac in reverse until the car hit some bricks in front of one of the homes and slowed. Police manually entered the code on the door keypad, and the big black dog hopped out.

Anne Sabol, who lives on the cul-de-sac, didn’t know what to think when she saw the car going around and around. She didn’t know a dog was behind the wheel.

“First I thought I saw somebody backing up, but then they kept going, and I'm like, ‘OK. what are they doing?'” Sabol told news station WPBF.

“And when the cops got the door open, a black dog jumped out. I was like, 'They should give that thing a license,'” she said.

Carrasquillo said Max’s owner doesn’t want to be identified. He has offered to replace the damaged mailbox, according to media reports.

“He’s kind of shy about the whole situation,” Carrasquillo told Patch. “I don’t think he likes the fact that it’s gone almost viral.”

At first officers were concerned for Max’s safety, but he escaped the adventure unscathed.

“At first, I think it was very serious,” she said. “Now that it’s going viral, we’re looking at like 'wow this is really going to make national news.' ”

Patch's Paul Scicchitano contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here