A Republican elections official has been accused of lacing his granddaughters’ ice creams with cocaine and MDMA at a North Carolina Dairy Queen.
James Edwin Yokeley, chair of the Surry County Board of Elections, was arrested after surveillance cameras caught him dropping two pills into the two teenage girls’ ice creams on August 8, the Wilmington Police Department said.
The girls, aged 15 and 16, did not consume the drugs.
Yokeley, 66, flagged down a police officer himself and said the girls had found ‘two hard objects in the ice cream they had recently purchased at the Dairy Queen,’ according to police documents.
The officer responded seized the laced snacks.
But, Yokeley’s story quickly unraveled.
Security footage captured the grandfather dropping the pills into his granddaughters’ food, police said.
Testing later revealed the pills to be the street drug known as molly, which contains cocaine and MDMA, WRAL reported.
Chair of the Surry County Board of Elections James Edwin Yokeley, circled, is accused of dropping drugs into his granddaughters’ ice creams at a Dairy Queen in North Carolina
Yokeley, seen with his family, was appointed chair of the county board earlier this year
Yokeley was charged with contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, felony possession of schedule 1 narcotics and felony child abuse.
He was released after posting $100,000 bond.
The Dairy Queen has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Yokeley was first appointed to the Surry County Board of Elections as a member in July 2023. He was appointed chair of the county board earlier this year.
He resigned from the board on Thursday, weeks after his arrest, officials said.
In a resignation letter to the board, Yokeley appeared to say he was innocent and claimed he was certain he would be ‘exonerated of all accusations’.
‘This decision has not been made lightly. After much prayer, thoughtful reflection and consultation, I have concluded that it’s in the best interest of the State Board of Elections, regarding my own falsely accused circumstances, to step down at this time,’ Yokeley wrote.
Yokeley’s politics have focused on anti-vaccine rhetoric and bogus claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
Police said surveillance footage showed the Republican dropping the drugs into the ice cream
The North Carolina Dairy Queen in question, pictured, has not been accused of wrongdoing
The North Carolina State Board of Elections said in a statement: ‘The State Board of Elections and Surry County Board of Elections are aware of the charges against Mr. Yokeley, the chair of the Surry County Board of Elections.
‘We will continue to collect information about the situation and will provide support to the Surry County board, as needed, to ensure it is able to continue serving the county’s voters.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .