OKEECHOBEE — A 13-year-old who has been charged twice with grand theft auto was arrested Feb. 21 and charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. On Feb. 21, Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Deputy Misei Esquivel responded to a call from the mother of Wyatt Baumhardt, who said her son had run away from home and that he’d been drinking.

Wyatt Baumhardt

When they found him, he had reportedly broken into the home of his father by breaking a window with the intention of committing additional crimes. He was transferred to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Due to the severity of the crime, he does not qualify for a Juvenile Diversion Program, the report notes.

Baumhardt was first arrested at the age of 10 after he allegedly stole a pickup truck and drove it at speeds up to 100 mph before losing control and running it into a ditch in Martin County. Neither he nor the 12-year-old girl with him was seriously injured in the accident, although the girl did hit her head on the ceiling of the truck’s cab, according to OCSO Deputy Devon Satallante’s arrest report. At that time, he was charged with grand theft, reckless driving and operating a motor vehicle without a license. According to Assistant State Attorney Ashley Albright, Baumhardt went through a juvenile diversion program in 2017.

Last October, he allegedly took his mother’s car without permission and deputies were able to locate him at a Dollar General the following morning, asleep in the front seat of the vehicle. His mother pressed charges because she wanted her son to be taught a lesson, and she felt he deserved to be punished for what he did.

According to Sheriff Noel E. Stephen, Baumhardt has been in trouble numerous times since he was very young.