Four scared kids jumped out of a car Tuesday night because a mom was driving drunk and being reckless. The 45-year-old mother now faces multiple charges of child neglect.
Angela Renee Woodworth was swerving all over the road with four kids in the car after leaving the mall. When she hit a pole, her 11-year-old son and his three friends jumped out of the car. All four ran into a Gainseville Steak ‘n Shake around 8:30 p.m. and told a customer that the mother had been driving drunk, the Gainesville Sun reports. The customer dialed 911 and let them know what the kids told her. All of them were extremely upset.
The kids told Gainesville police that Woodworth allegedly drank two pitchers of beer at the bowling alley and had a margarita at Ruby Tuesday. The Gainesville Police Department is charging the mom with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, and four counts of child neglect.
News 4 reports that the Steak ‘n Shake customer who helped the kids was Josh Kramer. He shares what happened.
“One of the boys told me his mom, they just left Ruby Tuesday, and his mom was really drunk and swerving all over the road. She hit a pole and broke a mirror off her car. They came to a stop. When they came to a stop, the kids jumped out of the car and ran into the restaurant.”
The police report states that the children appeared terrified when they arrived. The woman’s son told police that they had been at a park, Chinese restaurant, bowling alley, and Ruby Tuesday at the mall. When they all got into the car, the son said his mom was swerving everywhere, hit a pole, and that he and his friends were able to jump out of the car when she stopped. The other three kids told police the same thing.
Woodworth told police that she had one pitcher of beer and denied going to Ruby Tuesday. Her speech was slurred and she had a smell of alcohol on her, according to the police report. Authorities noted that Woodworth was “obviously intoxicated” and her car was damaged.
Gainesville police contacted the Department of Children and Families, who took Woodworth’s son. The three other children were returned to their families.
It seems that the four kids jumping out of the car did so before far worse would have happened to them.
[Photo Credit: The Gainesville Sun ]
