Photo: Contributed

Putnam County Sheriff Steve Deweese

Authorities in West Virginia say a five-year-old and a two-year-old took their mother's car for a three-mile ride before crashing it.

News outlets report the boys took the car from their mother's house Monday. One child steered the vehicle while the other child pushed the gas and brake pedals. The ride ended when the car crashed into a ditch.

Putnam County Sheriff Steve Deweese says deputies did not find the children's mother until nearly an hour later. He says she thought the boys were playing in the front yard.

The children were taken to the hospital to be checked out but had no injuries.

No charges have been filed against the mother, but Deweese says authorities are working with the prosecutor's office and Child Protective Services.