Appellant, a juvenile of the age of 14 years, represented by the public defender, was adjudged to be a ward of the juvenile court of El Dorado County. He appeals from the judgment of the court.

At the hearing it was stipulated by counsel that one Augustine Potor was the owner of a 1956 Oldsmobile that had been parked by Potor in front of the Camino Hotel in Camino, and was removed without his permission either in the late evening hours of April 30, 1967, or the early morning hours of May 1.

The testimony established the appellant and his companion, Joseph Greco, had been reported as missing from Diamond Springs. The two boys had run away and made the 13-mile trip from Diamond Springs to Camino by hitching rides and walking. Upon their arrival in Camino, they went into the Antlers Club and tried to borrow some dimes so they could call home. Apparently being unsuccessful, the two boys then went to the front of the Camino Hotel where they located an automobile with an unlocked door. Greco opened the door, climbed in and started the car by “hot-wiring” the ignition. After getting the ear started, they took turns driving until it ran out of gas about two miles away. Greco then opened the glove box in the vehicle with a screwdriver that was in the car and took out a pistol. The two boys then removed the remaining items of personal property from the car and left the scene.

Sergeant Wilson, of the sheriff's office in El Dorado County, testified that while on patrol on May 1, 1967, at about 2 a.m., he came upon the above-described Oldsmobile parked “crossways” on Mace Road in El Dorado County with its headlights on. Upon cheeking the inside of the car, Wilson noticed that the glove box was open and that the ignition switch was missing from its place in the car.

From the vehicle registration, Officer Wilson learned that the ear was owned by Potor who was contacted and advised that his car had been located on Mace Road. Wilson drove Potor to where the car had been located. Potor told the officer that the ignition switch had been in its proper place and the glove compartment locked when he parked his ear in front of the hotel. Potor also told the officer that certain items of personal property were missing from his car.

Officer Wilson then put out a broadcast to various law enforcement units advising them to be on the lookout for anyone walking along the road carrying a package or other items of property. Wilson then resumed his regular patrol. A short while later, the sheriff’s office received a call from Potor to the effect that he had observed two boys back of the Antlers Club in Camino and asked that they be checked out. The two boys had told Potor that they were lost and. wanted to get back to the freeway. Potor gave them directions and watched them go down Carson Road and turn south on Snow Road toward Pleasant Valley.

Officer Wilson proceeded toward Pleasant Valley and found the two boys walking on Snow Road. While walking down the road, appellant attempted to hide upon seeing a car coming. After the boys were stopped for questioning by Wilson, and while he was talking to them, another officer arrived and advised that there was a missing person’s report out on the two boys. Wilson then transported the boys to the sheriff’s office to be held pending the arrival of their parents.

Upon arrival at the office, the officer separated the two boys. Officers Wilson and Smith then talked to appellant.

Officer Wilson, the only witness for the respondent, testified to the substance of what was said at the time by Officer Smith and appellant. Smith asked him about the ear in Camino, and appellant replied that he knew nothing about the car. Appellant was then asked if he could drive, and he replied in the negative. When Officer Smith stated that he knew he could on the basis of the information in the missing person’s report, appellant said he could drive. Appellant was again asked about the car in Camino, and this time appellant stated that he and Greco had taken the car in Camino.

Officer Smith then advised appellant of his constitutional rights as prescribed in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 694 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 10 A.L.R.2d 974 ], which were read from a card. When asked, appellant replied that he understood these rights and was willing to waive them. Appellant also stated he did not want an attorney when asked whether he wished one. Officer Smith also asked: “Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?” Appellant responded affirmatively. Appellant then made a complete confession with regard to taking the ear.

Appellant took the stand in his own behalf. He stated that Greco was the instigator in taking the ear and he went along reluctantly. He also claimed that Greco was the one who actually “hot-wired” the car, and that he never drove the car at any time. The boys abandoned the ear when it ran out of gas.

Appellant stated that he changed his story about taking the car when the officers told him that Greco had already admitted the theft. He denied having been advised of his rights.

Appellant contends that since neither he nor his parents were advised of the right to counsel or right to remain silent prior to the interrogation, the statements obtained are inadmissible. Appellant initially relies upon In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 [ 18 L.Ed.2d 527 , 87 S.Ct. 1428 ], and Gallegos v. Colorado, 370 U.S. 49 [ 8 L.Ed.2d 325 , 82 S.Ct. 1209 , 87 A.L.R.2d 614 ]. Gault we will discuss in detail, infra. Gallegos is not in point since there is no element of coercion in the instant case.

Appellant next contends that the principles set forth in Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 694 ], were violated, thus making the statements of appellant inadmissible. The Attorney General agrees that the requirements of Miranda are applicable to minors and juvenile court proceedings, but not because of Gault . In his brief the Attorney General states:

The Attorney General then contends that the appellant’s statement (“they had taken the car in Camino”) was properly admitted as a response to a general inquiry (“What happened to the car in Camino?”) by an officer commencing an investigation of an unsolved crime.

Appellant, however, contends his out-of-court statements were inadmissible in the juvenile court proceeding because of the failure to advise him of his constitutional rights prior to the time he made the statements.

We hold that appellant, at the time he was questioned and gave his answers, was a suspect and the questioning was custodial interrogation. The juveniles were in custody as ‘‘ run-aways ’' and the officers were seeking information prior to the arrival of the parents. It is true that conduct of the officers during the 15-minute inquiry was neither oppressive nor coercive. However, the questioning was conducted under the conditions which invite coerced confessions and other evils of custodial interrogation and falls within the scope of the Miranda warning rule.

In People v. Fioritto, 68 Cal.2d 714, 717-718 [ 68 Cal.Rptr. 817 , 441 P.2d 625 ], filed June 20,1968, the court stated: “On this appeal the sole issue is the admissibility of defendant’s confession. The People insist that the confession was admissible because the record contains no suggestion of impermissible interrogation techniques on the part of the detective who conducted the interview. But the People misconceive the ratio decidendi of Miranda. A principal objective of that decision was to establish safeguards that would liberate courts insofar as possible from the difficult and troublesome necessity of adjudicating in each case whether coercive influences, psychological or physical, had been employed to secure admissions or confessions. We need not review here the history that produced the Miranda decision since it has been analyzed in innumerable cases and commentaries. It is sufficient to reiterate the words of Chief Justice Warren: ‘The current practice of incommunicado interrogation is at odds with one of our Nation’s most cherished principles—that the individual may not be compelled to incriminate himself. Unless adequate protective devices are employed to dispel the compulsion inherent in custodial surroundings, no statement obtained from the defendant can truly be the product of his free choice. ’ (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 458 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 714 , 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1619 , 10 A.L.R.3d 974 ].)

“It becomes our constitutional responsibility, therefore, to determine in every criminal ease that the full panoply of Miranda ‘protective devices’ is satisfied. . . .

It is true Officer Wilson testified that the officers had no suspicion that appellant was involved in an auto theft. However, the record also contains the following statement elicited at the hearing:

Prom the record we conclude the two boys were suspects, and the only suspects, at the time the incriminating statements were made. The Miranda warning had not been given at the time, and thus the confession was invalid and should have been excluded.

Respondent next contends:

In a series of appellate cases beginning with In re Castro (1966) 243 Cal.App.2d 402 [ 52 Cal.Rptr. 469 ], it was held that invalid confessions though admissible in juvenile court, cannot be relied upon to support a finding that the minor committed a crime. In Castro , at page 411, the court states:

The evidence in the ease before us which would warrant a finding that appellant unlawfully took and drove a vehicle not his own, without the consent of the owner and with the intent of depriving the owner of possession (Veh. Code, § 10851), was the result of appellant’s in-court confession as well as the extrajudicial confessions. There was no evidence introduced exclusive of appellant’s confessions. We hold his extrajudicial confessions impelled his testimonial one.

Subsequent to the holdings in Castro and Acuna, the U.S. Supreme Court, on May 15, 1967, decided In re Gault, supra, 387 U.S. 1 [ 18 L.Ed.2d 527 , 87 S.Ct. 1428 ], in which it was held that a 15-year-old hoy committed as a juvenile delinquent was denied due process of law because juvenile delinquency proceedings which may lead to commitment in a state institution must measure up to the essentials of due process and fair treatment, including application of the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination.

In Gault, supra, the court states, at pages 30-31 [18 L.Ed. 2d at pp. 547-548] : “In Kent v. United States, supra, [ 383 U.S. 541 (16 L.Ed.2d 84 , 86 S.Ct. 1045 )] we stated that the Juvenile Court Judge’s exercise of the power of the state as parens patriae was not unlimited. We said that ‘the admonition to function in a “parental” relationship is not an invitation to procedural arbitrariness. ’ With respect to the waiver by the Juvenile Court to the adult court of jurisdiction over an offense committed by a youth, we said that ‘ there is no place in our system of law for reaching a result of such tremendous consequences without ceremony—without hearing, without effective assistance of counsel, without a statement of reasons. ’ We announced with respect to such waiver proceedings that while ‘We do not mean ... to indicate that the hearing to be held must conform with all of the requirements of a criminal trial or even of the usual administrative hearing ; but we do hold that the hearing must measure up to the essentials of due process of fair treatment. ’ We reiterate this view, here in connection with a juvenile court adjudication of ‘ delinquency, ’ as a requirement which is part of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of our Constitution.” And, at page 44 [ 18 L.Ed.2d at p. 555 ]:

As noted in Gault, supra, the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination is as applicable to juveniles as it is to adults. We, therefore, conclude, as the court did in Spencer, supra, 66 Cal.2d at p. 169, ‘‘ that the record in this case fails to dispel beyond a reasonable doubt the possibility that the defendant took the stand in an attempt to mitigate the explosive impact of a confession which had left his case in ruin.” Counsel for defendant vigorously opposed the introduction of the confession at the wardship hearing, and it is reasonable to assume appellant took the witness stand in an attempt to mitigate the damage resulting from its erroneous introduction. Thus, the Castro line of eases is completely distinguishable since absent the invalid confession there was no evidence which was legally admissible.

The order of wardship is reversed.

Pierce, P. J., and Friedman, J., concurred.

A petition for a rehearing was denied September 5, 1968, and respondent’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied October 3, 1968. McComb, J., and Mosk, J., were of the opinion that the petition should be granted.