TACOMA, Wash. – A judge says a plane-hopping 11-year-old should remain in detention until a mental health evaluation is completed and until the judge learns more about the Tacoma boy's family life.
The boy, Semaj Booker, has been in detention since he was arrested for investigation of residential burglary on July 5.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson said Thursday he was concerned about the boy's safety -- and community safety.
The boy has twice made national headlines by traveling to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport alone and talking his way through security, most recently in May. In January 2007, when he was 9, he managed to make his way onto a flight from Seattle to Phoenix and from there to San Antonio. He said he wanted to be with his grandfather in Texas.
The day before his flight to Texas, the boy took a car and led police on a high-speed chase in Lakewood, near Tacoma. A judge convicted the boy of car theft last summer but said he wouldn't have to go to juvenile detention if he stayed out of trouble for a year.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox