5-yr-old snuck out for breakfast while parents slept—when officers showed him their jeep, his simple 5-word question had them in stitches

Imagine waking up in the morning to receive a call from the cops informing you that they found your son at Chick-fil-A! Sounds funny, right? Not to parents Phil and Victoria, who presumed that their 5-year-old son William was sleeping in his bed, only to learn that he had quietly sneaked out of the house. Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIA), who shared the hilarious story on X, told Today that they were surprised to find the reason behind his little adventure. They were also surprised to hear how the little boy jumped out of his well-fenced neighborhood.

Five-year-old William from Jacksonville, Florida, woke up hungry and wanted to get himself some breakfast. The little boy did not want to wake his family up before the sun; hence, he decided to pay a visit to Chick-fil-A, which he knew from weekend outings himself. When Officers Ryan Perri and Bryan Kelly of JSO's District 3 arrived to take William home, their bodycam footage featured William, who was still in his pajamas, taking a sip of a drink with his legs swinging beneath the table. After the cops took him out of Chick-fil-A, the manager quietly slipped a box of chicken minis, which he gave free of cost. The boy informed the cops that he lived "right across the street, right over there." As Officer Kelly opened the back door of the car, the little boy inquired, "Am I going to jail?" to which the officer laughed and said, "No."

A 2019 report published in PubMed reported that 68 % of caregivers stated that their child had eloped at least once. However, children with limited communication skills were significantly more likely to have a history of elopement. The study stated that the most commonly used preventive measure was installing locks at the top of doors, while fewer families used tracking devices, warning signs, or handicap permits. Just as the study mentioned, it is important for parents to provide better guidance and counseling for kids to avoid bad experiences.

Both officers took the little boy to his house, painted green with white fences. After they reached William's house, his father Phil answered the door and was startled to see cops early in the morning. The father, who assumed his son was still in bed, said, "The officer asked, 'Do you have a son named Liam Jefferson?' And I said, 'I have a son, William Jefferson, he's in bed.'"

In the later footage from the cop's bodycam, William's mother, Victoria, was showcased waiting at the driveway in her robe, as the parents looked worried. However, when they saw their son get out of the car, they noticed that he was quiet. "He's usually talkative, so the fact that he was quiet meant he knew something serious had happened. He said he wasn't going to do it again."

Thanking the officers, Phil told Today, "You usually think about keeping the bad guys out, not the good people in!"

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