Sheriff destroys wrong crop

A nine-year-old boy stole a car and smuggled himself onto two planes on an apparent mission to Texas. Semaj Booker made the improbable journey from Washington state to Texas while trying  to reach his grandfather in Dallas.

Southwest Airlines is still looking into how the 80-pound, 4-foot-9 boy made his way through security and onto two flights Monday, from Seattle to Phoenix and then to San Antonio.

Semaj Booker just "doesn't want to live in Washington state", said Police Lieutenant Dave Guttu of Lakewood, Washington.

The boy was "incredibly motivated to get to Texas," Guttu added.

The bold fourth-grader took matters into his own hands, leaving his Lakewood home Tuesday (Jan 16, 2007) and driving a car to Seattle airport, where he smuggled himself onto a Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix, Arizona.

From there, he got on a second plane to San Antonio, Texas, where the fourth-grader was caught by police before he could board a third flight to Dallas to complete his journey.

It was unclear how young Booker managed to get on even one plane, let alone two. A Southwest Airlines spokesman told the News Tribune that the company was still investigating.

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., has asked the Transportation Security Administration to determine how the boy got another passenger's name to get on board.

'As Norm says, we spend billions of dollars inconveniencing the American public and making things safe _ we think,' Dicks' spokesman George Behan. 'Then a 9-year-old comes walking through.'

Jennifer Peppin, a spokeswoman TSA noted that the boy had a proper boarding pass, which is necessary to clear federal screening. How he came about getting that pass from Southwest was 'their issue,' Peppin said.

In a statement Wednesday, Southwest said the boy was issued a boarding pass at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after he gave information matching a reservation and told workers his mother was already in the boarding area.

On Friday, Semaj was being held at a center for runaways in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio. Semaj was stopped by Southwest employees at the airport there when he tried to board a Dallas-bound flight.

The boy probably will remain at the center until his grandfather or another guardian can take custody of him, said Fred Wist, a prosecutor in Washington state's Pierce County.

Semaj's mother, Sakinah Booker, 29, has said her son dislikes the Lakewood neighborhood where the family lives and is afraid of a sex offender who lives nearby. Wist said Friday that investigators confirmed a sex offender was living in the area, but there had been no reports of any contact with the child.

As for the car theft, the boy has a history.

On Sunday (Jan 14, 2007), he stole a car and took police on a high-speed chase.

Wist has filed charges against Semaj in connection with Sunday's high-speed pursuit. Authorities say Semaj, who had run away before, eluded police at speeds of 80-90 mph until he took an exit and the engine blew. He was returned home but ran away again Monday.

His mother told reporters he likely learned that kind of driving from video games.

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"Since you have chosen to elect a man with a timber toe to succeed me, you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas". Davy Crockett's final statement on his Congressional defeat.