How come you can't catch him? He's only nine after. Drag him back and read him the riot act. Otherwise he just gets away with whatever he has done.
Number one: Don't run after him. That creates a game of sorts, with him making the rules.
Good question by adgal. Do you calming discuss and punish him when you catch him or do you swat him?
And obviously, he returns home each time - so why chase him?
You might want to check out the book by Fay and Cline called Love and Logic. It works pretty well with kids of this age.
Well, I don't think it is overly abnormal for any child to try to avoid getting into trouble. How do you discipline him?