Car crashes into Duluth apartment

DULUTH, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - What started as a quick trip to a nearby gas station ended with a car inside one family's bedroom. The driver told police she got confused when putting the car into gear, shifting it into reverse instead of drive.

No, the person behind the wheel wasn't driving drunk; police said she was driving...at 13-years-old!

In police body camera video obtained by FOX 5 News, the teen's mother appeared to be in utter shock, after learning her daughter snagged her keys without permission. "Imagine if somebody was in that room," she told one officer. He replied, "Well, fortunately, nobody was hurt and everyone is okay."

The Kim family watched the commotion from two doors down.

"13?!" Hyeyon Kim, a new mother, asked. "Oh my God! So, that's why she had an accident," Kim said. She told FOX 5 News her family couldn't sleep that night, feeling anxious about what if the car hit her home instead.

Another neighbor is also feeling unsettled after the crash. She is relieved the residents weren't home when the 2007 Toyota Camry barreled into the bedroom. "They could've been sleeping or standing right there because it was nighttime," she told FOX 5 News. "It was bedtime."

So, what happens to the 13-year-old? Police said it's up to her mother and apartment complex now.

"No charges because first, it's an accident, she's 13-years-old, and it's on private property so now technically it's a civil action," said Officer Ted Sadowski with Duluth Police.

Sadowski said this teen's quick trip to the gas station could have carried more serious consequences, even fatal ones. He wants to remind minors feeling adventurous that there's a reason for every law.

"She didn't know what she was doing, so getting on a roadway with others possibly could have put people in danger," Sadowski said.

A tow truck ultimately pulled the 2007 Toyota Camry from the apartment. According to preliminary information from police, the mother just purchased the car.