Horry County police arrested a Myrtle Beach area woman shortly after midnight Monday for reportedly choking and beating a child.

Elizabeth Ann Williams, 40, is charged with cruelty to children and is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

Police met with the 911 caller who said Williams had been angry with a 12-year-old boy when she choked and hit him, according to an Horry County police report. The officer could hear Williams shouting obscenities from the back porch.

The kid who was playing with friends said Williams was mad that he was awake and yelled at him to send his friends home. After the friends left, he grabbed video games to play when Williams came after him, the report said.

Williams was on the back porch drinking beer with her boyfriend and almost immediately promised not to drive home because she was too drunk when the officer asked her what happened. The officer asked about the scratches on the boy, and Williams denied ever touching the boy or disciplining him at all.

William’s boyfriend was too drunk and the boy’s father could not be reached, so the Department of Social Services took custody of the boy, the report said.

Contact AMANDA KELLEY at 626-0381.