Florida Great-Grandmother Arrested After 10-Year-Old Grandson Crashes Car

A family is seeking jail time for a Florida woman after she let her 10-year-old great-grandson crash her vehicle into their SUV, according to WFTS on Monday (June 14).

The dispute stems from an incident on December 21, 2020, where 75-year-old Lauren Burch Birk was drinking vodka and babysitting her three great-grandchildren, a crash report said. The kids wanted to go to see the Christmas lights at Largo Central Park, so Birk backed the car out of the driveway and told her grandson to drive, she told police.

The park was a mile and a half away from Birk's condominium, but things to go awry.

The boy slammed the Birk's Ford Escape into the back of Anthony Troiso's SUV, which carried children, reporters learned. The impact reportedly pushed his vehicle into a third car, which also had two children inside. “I saw headlights coming upon us,” Anthony told reporters. “Full-blast. Hit from behind. Full-speed.”

“I look in the rear-view mirror and see a little boy driving and by the time I’m out of the car, he’s in the back seat and there’s nobody in the driver’s seat," Rachel Troiso said. "And I’m like what? Who is driving this car?”

A police report said, “Birk had a strong odor of alcoholic beverages... had difficulty standing and was slurring her words.” When Rachel asked Birk about the great-grandson driving, she claims the great-grandmother didn't seem concerned about the ordeal.

Birk was charged with a felony count of child neglect and allowing an unlicensed minor to drive at the time. Prior to this incident, she was previously booked for DUI in 2017. She told WFTS that she was ordered to have no contact with her great-grandchildren and must wear an alcohol detection monitor.

The Troisos want the great-grandmother to take responsibility for her actions.

“They knew she was intoxicated. They didn’t charge her with DUI. They didn’t do field sobriety tests. They knew she had been previously convicted of a DUI with a crash,” said attorney John McGuire, who represents the Troisos in their personal injury case. "A second DUI would have been mandatory jail time. Right now, she has no mandatory jail time."