A week ago, news broke that 5-year-old Adrian Zamarripa of Ogden, Utah took his parents’ SUV and set on the road to Los Angeles, California with one goal in mind, to buy his dream Lamborghini.
With $3 in his pocket, he drove onto Interstate 15 and was well on his way until he was pulled over by the highway patrol after the SUV was seen sporadically crossing over lanes.
Officer Rick Morgan was shocked to find the 5-year-old with both feet on the brake pedal as he hugged the steering wheel. When the officer asked Adrian where he was going, he responded to Los Angeles.
Adrian did not receive a citation or charge, but was returned home to his family who had thought he had been kidnapped.
The video of the traffic stop went viral for all to see and that’s when the judgement began. People criticized the parents for not managing the child well. Some believed that the 5-year-old deserved a harsher punishment.
But, there were some people like lambo owner Jeremy Neves who saw beyond the negative aspect of Adrian’s story and could see that here was an ambitious kid with opulent dreams and he was willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.
With that said, Neves, 33, picked up Adrian at his house, with the permission of his parents of course, and took the young boy on a joyride in his matte black Lamborghini Huracan.
“I was shocked that a 5-year-old knew how to get on the freeway, then pull over for a cop,” said Neves, an entrepreneur and philanthropist. “Hey, I was 12 when I took my parents’ car. This kid is 5? I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘This kid is ambitious and has no fear.’ He was determined, willing to do whatever it took to go after his dream. You don’t want that dreaming to stop.”
Neves and Adrian’s car ride ended with a negotiation.
“Adrian came over to me with his $3, and I said, ‘Are you trying to buy this car from me?’ He told me, ‘No, I want to keep my money, but you can give me the Lamborghini.'”
Shortly after Neves took the kid on the joyride, California-based company Wires Only flew Adrian and his family out to L.A. There, car broker RD Whittington would take the family to a Malibu dealership where Adrian would check out some of the most exotic cars on the market.
To top it off, rapper Lil Pump and Shaq FaceTimed Adrian just to say hello. The dream trip would end with RD driving Adrian to Jamie Foxx’s huge abode to meet the actor.
Adrian’s story was one that could have ended terribly. He could have hurt himself or someone else when driving his parents’ SUV. His family could have also faced fines and charges of neglect. Knowing that, the family, Neves and Whittington all talked to him about listening to his parents and making safer choices.
Adrian quickly learned his lesson, but there was another lesson that we all could take away from this. If a little boy from Utah can get over his fears and reservations to be courageous enough to take the wheel, again this was his first time driving, then as grown adults we should have the courage to take on life the same way.
Sometimes it seems that the older people get, the less they’re able to dream. So, asking them to make their dreams happen is even a harder feat.
It would be amiss to not point out that Adrian’s situation was treated differently from similar cases in the past. Nearly seven years ago, an 11-year-old boy was arrested with his 10-year-old friends after going on a joyride in a car. They faced criminal prosecution in a Albuquerque juvenile court.
In 2008, a 7-year-old Florida child went on a joyride and received online criticisms and reprimanding from the police. None of these children got a celebrity FaceTime or dream ride anywhere.
But, maybe the world is a better place and people have more understanding now that the coronavirus has humbled us. Maybe if these children took their joyride in 2020 the reception would have been totally different and we would all be saying ‘Awwwww’.
