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Mother charged with 3rd DUI, 2-year-old riding on her lap

CLOVER, S.C. — Carol Ann Goforth, 46, was still in jail late Monday, following her arrest Thursday afternoon.
 
York County Sheriff's deputies said they charged Goforth after a deputy stopped her on Stroupe Road on suspicion of drunken driving, and found her 2-year-old son on her lap in the car.
 
Kelia Loncaric often babysits for the little boy.
 
"I would not have expected her to put her son's life at risk like that," she said.
 
Loncaric is a former neighbor who has remained close to the family.
 
Sheriff's deputies said Goforth drove to a house on Stroupe Road on Thursday, and went to a stranger's door, asking about a car she wanted to look at.
 
The stranger thought she was drunk and called deputies after noticing two children with her.
 
The caller told them she saw a 9-year-old girl driving away as they left her property.
 
Deputies later stopped Goforth as she was pulling out of another driveway just down the street.
 
"She could've gotten into a wreck, she could've killed herself, killed her son, killed the 9-year-old," Loncaric said.
 
The 9-year-old is a friend's daughter Channel 9 was told.  Eyewitness News was not able to reach that family Monday to ask about what happened. 
 
The police report stated Goforth was staying with the family, but they were asleep and had no idea she had left with the children in the car.
 
Goforth is charged with DUI third offense, two counts of child neglect, driving without a license and letting an unauthorized person drive a car.
 
"I'm surprised she would do that. She's not a bad mother," Loncaric said.
 
According to the report, she told the deputy when she was stopped that she'd only had a few beers.   She then failed a roadside sobriety test, but refused a breathalyzer.
 
The deputy said she had a "flippant" attitude about the children with her, and didn't seem concerned about what could happen to her son.
 
She's still in jail on bond of $16,500.