Lancaster father in jail after leaving children for beer

LANCASTER, S.C. — http://bcove.me/160muljn

A Lancaster man is accused of leaving an infant and a 2-year-old home alone to make a late-night beer run.

Chris Blackmon, 26, is charged with public drunkenness and two counts of unlawful neglect of a child.

Lancaster County sheriff's deputies said Blackmon left home around midnight Monday, and rode his moped to a store at Buford Crossroads to buy beer because he'd run out. His two children were home by themselves, police said.

A clerk at the Buford Express told Channel 9 that she saw Blackmon pull up on his moped and come into the store, obviously drunk.

She said he was causing trouble with another customer, and she grabbed the beer from him when he tried to buy it, and refused to sell it to him.

She said Blackmon got angry, and left the store on his moped. She then called 911.

Blackmon claimed he ran out of gas, but deputies said he wrecked the bike on Highway 9, and they found him not far away.

According to the police incident report, Blackmon said he'd been drinking for most of the day, and admitted leaving his children to go buy beer.

Deputies made contact with his girlfriend, who told them she was at a relative's house, and had no idea Blackmon had left the children.

A deputy went to Blackmon's house on Dixie School Road, and found the two children asleep. Deputies noticed unsanitary living conditions inside. The deputy found mice crawling around the house, as well as food and beer cans scattered throughout the home.

The Department of Social Services was contacted, and the children are in the care of family members.

Blackmon was still in jail late Tuesday on a $10,000 surety bond.

WSOC