"Nothing good came of this," 9-year-old runaway says

TACOMA -- Things didn't turn out at all the way 9-year-old Semaj Booker had imagined.

The plane flights he finagled to Texas were scary. His grandfather -- whom he was running away from his home to see -- refused to pick him up at the detention center in San Antonio. And when he returned to Washington, he found that he had been charged with three crimes and that his family was homeless.

"No," he said Friday in a Tacoma church where the family is seeking help. "Nothing good came of this."

The fourth-grader, who likes football, video games and playing with his baby brother, ran away from his Lakewood home on Jan. 15. He got through an airport security checkpoint at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and boarded a plane bound for Tampa, Fla., before being detained in San Antonio.

News of his journey made national headlines, raised questions about how the boy was able to make it through security and get on a plane in the post-9/11 era, and subjected his family to scrutiny.

He was called resourceful, brilliant, remorseless and cocky. But on Friday, Semaj spoke about his ordeal, saying he was sorry for what he put his family through and that he would never do it again.

Semaj's mother, 29-year-old Sakinah Booker, is a single mother who has three other boys: 11, 3 and 7 months.

How to help

Anyone wishing to make a donation of money or time to help Semaj Booker and his family may do so in care of the St. John Baptist Church, 2001 J St., Tacoma, WA 98405

Semaj, who was born in Minnesota, hated the family's most recent home on a street of grimy apartment complexes behind fast-food joints, dollar Chinese food restaurants and run-down casinos, his mother said.

Semaj had run away several times before, his mom said, and was bent on getting back to Dallas where the family had stayed with her father for a while.

She said he was seeking strong male role models.

He said he went there to be with his grandfather and see the rest of his family. He was mad when he heard that his grandfather, whom he has not spoken to, wasn't coming to get him.

Police said Semaj, who had stolen cars before, got behind the wheel of an Acura on Jan. 14 that was left running outside a neighbor's apartment and then made his way toward Interstate 5 -- where he was spotted by police -- and onto Highway 512 traveling at speeds up to 80 mph before he was stopped.

Police took him to the hospital and then to Remann Hall juvenile detention facility in Tacoma, where authorities declined to hold him because of his age. He was returned home.

The next morning, Semaj was gone again. This time he walked to a bus stop and got on a bus bound for the airport. It wasn't hard, he said. "It said on the side of the wall which bus to take."

When he got to the airport, he said he followed the arrows that led him to the airplane gates and joined the line through security. There, he was told to take off his jacket and shoes, which he did, and he walked through.

At the boarding gate, he heard an announcement for a passenger who had lost a ticket, claimed it and was on the plane by 7:30 a.m., according to the Rev. Tony McMath of St. John Baptist Church in Tacoma, which is helping the family find a new home.

The Florida-bound plane stopped in Phoenix and in San Antonio where Semaj got off, hoping to take another flight to Dallas. But he was detained by airline employees when he was unable to give information that matched passenger manifests. He was turned over to San Antonio police and spent a few nights in Boy's Town detention facility, where he got into a fight with another kid who'd scared him, he said.

The airline has said it is investigating the incident to figure out if changes need to be made at ticket counters. So far, the protocol for checking in children under 12 who are not required to carry identification remains unchanged, according to a Southwest Airlines official.

Semaj has been charged with taking a motor vehicle without permission, attempting to elude police and driving without a license, and is scheduled to appear in Pierce County juvenile court Monday.

Prosecutor Fred Wist said the charges were filed thoughtfully. "We're trying to stop the behavior and provide services to the youth and his family so that we never see him again."

But McMath said it won't help an already destitute and fragile family. Booker had received an eviction notice shortly before Semaj ran away.

"Semaj is not a mean kid; he's not a bad kid; he's not a criminal mastermind," McMath said. "This is a good family that is struggling and they're not unusual except that Semaj got on a plane. They need what others need: a stable home, a place to school, a place to sleep and eat."

He said church members are trying to find housing for the family, but it takes time. "There's a waiting list and bureaucratic red tape," he said. In the meantime, church members are digging into their own pockets to put them up in a hotel and buy them some time.

Semaj said Friday that he wished he hadn't gotten on that plane. He'd changed his mind not long before the plane took off, but flight attendants wouldn't let him off so close to departure, he said.

He knows he made things harder for his mother and he isn't dreaming of any more plane trips or adventures.

All he wants, he said, is a home.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.