Louisiana boy, 11, is arrested after stealing a kindergarten school bus and leading police on a high speed chase for 13 miles before crashing into a tree in wild 30 minute joy ride

An 11-year-old boy has been arrested in Louisiana after he allegedly led police on a high speed chase after stealing a school bus and taking it for a wild joy ride through Baton Rouge.

The incident began at around 11am on Sunday morning, where police say the boy took the bus from the parking lot of the Progress Head Start Center, a kindergarten along Progress Road.

Multiple officers responded to a call of a stolen school vehicle and a 30 minute chase ensued between the boy and dozens of patrol vehicles through the center of town, as reported by WBRZ.

The pursuit came to an end at 11:30am when the boy crashed into a tree and struck a gas line near 1700 Greenwell Springs Road, around 13 miles away from where the vehicle was taken.

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An 11-year-old boy has been arrested in Louisiana after he allegedly led police on a high speed chase after stealing a school bus and taking it for a wild joy ride through Baton Rouge

The incident began at around 11am on Sunday morning, where police say the boy took the bus from the parking lot of the Progress Head Start Center, a kindergarten along Progress Road.

The pursuit came to an end at 11:30am when the boy crashed into a tree and struck a gas line 1700 Greenwell Springs Road, around 13 miles away from where the vehicle was taken

The boy reportedly struck three vehicles before coming to a crashing halt, police said.

Responding officers surrounded the bus and the boy, who has not been named, was handcuffed before being placed in the back of a patrol vehicle.

The juvenile was booked into the Baton Rouge Juvenile Detention Center and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated flight, three counts of aggravated damage to property, and aggravated assault.

The aggravated assault charge stems from allegations the boy ‘purposely tried to strike a vehicle’ during the police chase.

No injuries were reported, but the bus appeared to be damaged, having struck the tree just behind the driver’s seat.

Reporter Sydney Kern of WBRZ also shared a video of the school bus being towed from against a tree where it crashed.

‘Crews are now removing the bus. You can see the damage on it from hitting the tree. Again, homeowners said the child looked okay when he hopped out of the bus,’ she wrote on Twitter.

A spokesperson for the Baton Rouge Police Department says they believe the bus is a push to start vehicle, making it easy for the boy to steal.

He reportedly struck three vehicles before coming to a crashing halt, police said

No injuries were reported, but the bus appeared to be damaged, having struck the tree just behind the driver’s seat

Libby Smith said the bus crashed into her front yard. ‘I’m thinking what in the world is going on and my first thought is that it was a lot of kids on the bus. Thank goodness he was okay he was safe, but it was not your typical Sunday afternoon occurrence for sure. So, we’re blessed that it didn’t do any more damage than it did,’ she said.

Witness Joy Gradney caught part of the chase on her cell phone, showing a long line of police cars chasing the school bus through an intersection, sirens blaring in the background.

She said she was shocked to see such a young person zoom past her behind the wheel of the bus.

'I could hear the sirens but I just didn't really know what was going on,' Gradney told WAFB . 'As he got closer and closer and closer I saw it's a little boy in there, and he was laughing. He was giggling, and I'm like I can't believe it's a little boy.' 

Another video shows the young boy driving toward a roundabout as the bus bounces over several curbs.

Another bystander, Libby Smith, said she was stunned when the bus crashed in her front yard.

‘I’m thinking what in the world is going on and my first thought is that it was a lot of kids on the bus,' Smith said. 'Thank goodness he was okay he was safe, but it was not your typical Sunday afternoon occurrence for sure. So, we’re blessed that it didn’t do any more damage than it did.'

The crash did not appear to have caused any major damage, according to reports from the scene.

Firefighters later arrived on the scene to fix the broken gas line, reports said.