‘Extremely impaired’ woman leaves friend’s baby in hot car, South Carolina police say
A South Carolina woman is accused of driving home drunk before leaving her friend’s baby in the back seat, according to Charleston police.
The 21-year-old was “extremely impaired” when she got behind the wheel of her blue Mazda 3 and drove herself and the baby back to her apartment on Royal Palm Boulevard late Wednesday, Aug. 3, authorities said in an incident report.
She went inside to sleep but left the child sitting in 85 degree heat “with 85% humidity,” police said. The car was off with no air conditioning, and the windows were rolled up.
Officers arrived just before 10:15 p.m. after a report about a child that was left in a car by a possible drunk driver, the report said.
A witness told police they saw the driver, later identified as the 21-year-old, park her car in the parking lot. Recording the incident, they watched as she took the baby from the back seat and then put the child back in the car before walking into an apartment.
Police said the the child’s mother, who wasn’t named, showed up before officers arrived. She told authorities that the 21-year-old drove away with her baby while she shopped at a Publix grocery store. She tried calling the 21-year-old but couldn’t reach her, forcing her to make a 19-minute walk back home, the report said.
She arrived to find her baby still in the back seat of the car “sweating and warm to the touch,” she told police.
Officers later found the 21-year-old partially dressed and passed out on a couch inside her apartment, according to the incident report. They tried for several minutes to wake her with no luck. Once awake, police said the woman “appeared confused” and smelled strongly of alcohol.
She continued to stumble around her apartment and made incoherent statements about what happened, police said. The woman acknowledged drinking at a bar with a friend earlier that night and said the friend had been driving her around because she was intoxicated.
She confirmed to police that she drove herself home, however.
Authorities cited her for driving under the influence, child endangerment and unlawful conduct toward a child, according to the incident report.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 11:15 AM with the headline "‘Extremely impaired’ woman leaves friend’s baby in hot car, South Carolina police say."