The 9-year-old boy who managed to board a flight bound for Las Vegas with no boarding pass or ticket will have a child protection hearing, following a petition filed by officials in Hennepin County who say the child is in need of help.
According to the Associated Press, the anonymous child who made it onto a Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on luck and wits alone has intense behavioral problems. He's allegedly got a curious history of theft and conning - a few days before he boarded the plane last week, he stole a delivery van and crashed it into a police car in Edina, a city in Hennepin County. He's also sneaked into a local waterpark without paying multiple times by blending in with a family. Last month, the child was suspended from school for fighting.
Officials in the County have submitted a petition that calls for the state's protection, and a hearing for the child has been scheduled for Wednesday.
The boy's father spoke at a press conference last week, commenting on the issues he's encountered with his child. He kept his face covered in the hood of his sweatshirt during the meeting with reporters, and only talked to the media on the condition of anonymity. He admitted that he'd asked a child services officer if he could physically reprimand his child in pure desperation.
"I said, 'Please, sir, can you go up with me and watch me whip his butt,'" the father said. "The officer said, 'If I see you hit your son, I'm going to have to lock you up.' What can I do? If I whip my son, I get locked up. If I let him keep doing what he is doing, I get into trouble. Someone please, please help me."
The father also added that his son began showing strange behavior when he was about five years old.
"I'm tired of people saying he's a minor, there's nothing we can do," he said, choking back tears. "There's something someone can do. I don't want him hurt. I miss my son. I want my son home."
The 9-year-old boy reportedly evaded three steps of airport security by blending in with a family when he snuck onto the plane last week. According to video surveillance from the airport, the child was seen speaking with a Delta gate agent. When the agent was not looking, the boy walked right past him, down the jet way, and onto the plane.
