(CNN) An 8-year-old German boy stole his mother's car and took it for a night-time drive at 87 mph (140 kmph) along a highway, local police said.

The child was discovered parked at a motorway services along the A44 highway near the northwest German city of Soest in the early hours of Wednesday -- about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from his home.

The boy's mother called police at 12:25 a.m., alerting them that her son had taken her VW Golf, which has automatic transmission.

Local police and the boy's mother started to look for the car-loving child, and he was found by his mother shortly after in a service station along the autobahn.

The boy had parked the car and turned on the hazard lights, securing the area with a warning triangle.

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