When the Garda eventually caught up with the joyrider, the boy was crouching behind the driver's seat, wearing a black wig as a disguise, hoping he had evaded the police, writes Carl O'Brien.
He had just driven at high speed against the flow of traffic on Finglas's Tolka Road.
A double-decker bus and several cars swerved out of the way. Next he broke some traffic lights. By the time he sped up onto a footpath, he was being pursued by a patrol van and the Garda helicopter.
The 17-year-old later brought the car to a halt amid the concrete and metal sprawl of a scrapyard in Finglas.
"I was in the patrol van and couldn't keep up with the car," said Garda Alan Govern, in soft, measured tones, in contrast to the drama of his description.
"Motorists were able to direct me to where he had driven. When I drove past a yard with scrap cars, I saw a car abandoned. The passenger had run off, but I found the driver crouched behind the driver's seat."
The blue estate car had no tax or insurance and the youngster did not have any driving licence.
When he later gave a urine sample to the Garda, the results were well over the legal drink-driving limit.
His mother came down to the station and co-operated fully with gardaí, he said. The 17-year-old did not have any previous convictions of this kind, the Garda pointed out, helpfully.
"Well, he has certainly made up for his history," said Judge Angela Ní Chondúin, looking across to the accused, who, dressed in a grey tracksuit and blue sports top, ran his fingers nervously over a gold ring on his finger.
Like many of the children who pass through the Children's Court in Smithfield, he was staying with his grandparents.
His father died when he was just four-years-old. His mother had rung the solicitor to say she could not be in court because of a "problem".
For years, the accused's solicitor pointed out, he had been leading a chaotic, drink-fuelled lifestyle.
"He has been through some extremely chaotic events which I won't go into," said his solicitor, Ms Michelle Finan.
"He has had a very difficult time for a boy of his age."
Alcohol appears to be the main source of his problems, she said, and his mother and grandmother were hoping he could go to a residential centre for the treatment of alcohol.
"I know this is an extremely serious offence. He has special problems," his solicitor said, pleading for mitigation. "He could have killed any number of people," Judge Ní Chondúin pointed out, adopting a stern tone as she looked towards him again through her black-framed glasses.
Noting the solicitor's submissions, she agreed to adjourn the case, on bail of €100, to allow for the possibility of sending the boy to a residential treatment centre for addiction.
The 17-year-old, whose legs shook under the witness stand partly in nervousness and partly to keep warm in the chilly courtroom, looked relieved. He smiled weakly as he walked out of the courtroom.
Later in Court 55, another 17-year-old shifted uncomfortably in the witness stand, having been arrested in the early hours of New Year's Day in Ballyfermot under the Intoxicating Liquor Act.
His solicitor pointed out that he had left school, was on the waiting list for a FÁS course and had no income.
"He might be fond of his grandmother, but he's causing her grief.
"And if he gets into any more trouble, he'll get grief from me," she said, before deciding that he be bound to the peace for 12 months.
"Say thank you to the judge," the youngster's grandmother piped up from the back of the courtroom.
"Thanks," he said, looking embarrassed, as he sat with his arms folded on top of the witness stand.