On August 8, Yokeley flagged down officers of the Wilmington Police Department at a Sheetz gas station on Shipyard Blvd after finding two pills in his granddaughters’ ice cream treats, which he’d recently purchased.
After preliminary field tests, it was determined that the pills were illegal narcotics. The initial results reportedly indicated MDMA and cocaine, but the evidence has been sent to the local drug lab for more conclusive testing. A WPD spokesperson said they are expecting the turnaround time for the testing to be about a month.
Medical personnel checked the two girls and determined they had not ingested any of the substances.
While investigating the matter further, detectives found video footage showing Yokeley placing the two pills in his granddaughters’ ice cream himself.
WPD says this is still an ongoing investigation, but they believe the attempted drugging was intentional.
Yokeley is being charged with contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, felony child abuse, and felony possession of Schedule I narcotics. He’s now being held at the detention center under a $100,000 bond.
Yokely was recently appointed to chair the Surry County Board of Elections for the 2025-2027 term by Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek.
Boliek responded to the news of this incident in a press release on Thursday morning.
“The arrest and investigation of the Surry County Board of Elections Chair is very disturbing. This matter distracts from election management in Surry County and must be addressed quickly and directly,” said State Auditor Boliek. “Our office is built on holding individuals accountable. He needs to resign, and Surry County needs a new Board of Elections Chair. If he doesn’t resign, I’ll be requesting the State Board take action today to remove him as Chair," Boliek wrote in a statement.
About a half an hour after Boliek's statement was released, Yokeley resigned, and the Surry County Board of Elections will now appoint a replacement, according to Boliek.
