Intoxicated Rock Hill mother passed out in car with children, police say

A Rock Hill mother was charged with child abuse after she was found passed out in someone else’s car with her three children inside the vehicle, according to police.

Dequanna Chantee White, 33, was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child and placed in the Rock Hill city jail, where she remained Monday under $3,000 bond, according to jail records.

The owner of a Toyota Camry called police around 1:30 a.m. Sunday and told them Caldwell was sitting in the car without permission with her three children in the back seat, according to a police report. Officers found White passed out in the front passenger seat of the car, and while attempting to wake her saw three small children in the back seat.

When officers woke White and tried to get her to step out of the car, she began using profanities toward officers in front of her children, police said. Officers asked White multiple times where she was planning to go with her children and she responded each time, “I’ve been drinking.”

Police determined that White created “unreasonable risk of harm,” the report states. The children were taken into emergency protective custody and turned over to the Department of Social Services.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Intoxicated Rock Hill mother passed out in car with children, police say."