A Villager who drank wine at a neighborhood pool and then took a wild ride in her golf cart will lose her driver’s license for six months.
Joyce Hellkamp Smith, 62, of the Village of St. Charles, had been at the wheel of a green golf cart June 20 when someone reported the golf cart was hitting curbs, driving in and out of the golf cart lane and driving in front of oncoming vehicles, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The golf cart then ran through a yard on Baldwin Run. The witness was blocking Smith’s golf cart when a deputy arrived on the scene.
Smith admitted she had consumed “some wine” and the deputy spotted a cardboard 1-liter wine container inside a compartment on the dashboard. The deputy also observed numerous green leaves and sticks on the floorboard of the golf cart, leading the deputy to conclude Smith had recently hit a bush.
Smith told the deputy she lived around the corner and wanted to go home.
“Do we have to do this?” she asked.
She failed field sobriety exercises. She provided breath samples that registered .207, .243 and .242 blood alcohol content.
Last week in Sumter County Court, Smith entered a plea of no contest to a charge of driving under the influence.
In addition to losing her driver’s license for six months, Smith has been placed on probation for one year. She has also been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
