A young motorist terrorized the town of Milton-Freewater in April 1969, but suffered no repercussions for her short-lived spree of destruction.
Mrs. Richard Hunt of Milton-Freewater, "for the first and only time," left her daughter Elizabeth Ann in their automatic-transmission-enabled car with the motor running on April 6, 1969, while she dashed into the Magic Valley Laundry "for a minute." Elizabeth Ann promptly plopped herself in the driver's seat, put the car in reverse and backed about 25 feet, turned left and crossed North Main Street, a busy state highway, and into the driveway of a tire store across the street.
Elizabeth Ann changed her mind, shifted the car into drive, swung left and back into Main Street and sped past the laundry. She then turned into the laundry's 18-foot-wide driveway, speeding neatly between the laundry building and a high wooden fence on the other side.
Her forward progress, however, was impeded by a pickup truck belonging to Bill Reich. Elizabeth Ann hit the pickup, which then crashed into a second vehicle owned by Reich.
Damage to Reich's vehicles was estimated at about $200. Elizabeth Ann's car sustained only minor damages, and the young motorist none at all.
When the investigating officer arrived at the scene of the crash, Elizabeth Ann flashed him a dazzling smile. Not only did the officer not give Elizabeth Ann a ticket, but he, her still-trembling mother, two horrified witnesses and Reich gave fervent thanks that Elizabeth Ann hadn't hit a building or two in her spree.
Elizabeth Ann Hunt, you see, was 18 months old.
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