Man put narcotics in ice cream for his granddaughter and her friend, NC cops say

CORRECTION: The suspect’s job title was incorrectly stated in an earlier version of this story. The story was updated to reflect that he is the chairman of the Surry County Board of Elections.

The corrected story is below.

A man accused of hiding narcotics in the ice cream of his granddaughter and her teenaged friend is also the chair of the county’s Board of Elections, according to officials in Eastern North Carolina.

It happened Aug. 3 at the Dairy Queen on Oleander Drive in Wilmington, and the suspect has been identified as 66-year-old James Yokeley Jr., the Wilmington Police Department said in an Aug. 27 Facebook post.

Yokeley stepped down as chair of the election board Thursday morning after Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek, who appointed Yokeley to the board, asked for his resignation.

Investigators have not released a motive.

Investigators initially said both girls were the suspect’s granddaughters, but have since amended that detail to note one his granddaughter and the other was her friend.

“A Wilmington Police Officer was flagged down ... at the Sheetz gas station at 2517 Shipyard Blvd. Mr. Yokeley informed the officer that (two juvenile girls) had found two hard objects in the ice cream they had recently purchased at the Dairy Queen,” police said.

“Medical personnel checked the two juveniles. It was determined that they had not ingested any of the substances. The two pills were collected, and preliminary field tests conducted indicated that the pills were illegal narcotics. Those pills have since been sent to the State lab for further conclusive testing.”

Investigators say one of the two victims was driving Yokeley’s vehicle, a 16 year old, and “fear and panic” prompted her to stop at the Sheetz because she saw an ambulance in the parking lot. Paramedics at the scene then flagged down police officers, officials said.

The frozen treats were identified as Dairy Queen Blizzards, an extra thick type of shake loaded with extras.

An investigation led to video footage indicating Yokeley had “placed the two pills into both victims’ ice cream,” officials said. The two victims remained in the vehicle as their he picked up the Blizzards at the counter, officials said.

Yokeley was arrested Aug. 26 and charged with “contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance and felony child abuse,” officials said. Bond was set at $100,000 and he has since been released.

The Surry County Board of Elections lists Yokeley as its chairman and the board issued a statement on the arrest the same day it was posted on the police department’s Facebook page.

“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 Election. 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,” the statement says.

In an interview with The News & Observer, Boliek said had he selected Yokeley to serve as chair of the board in part because he already had experience as a member of the board.

“We also did due diligence here in running background checks and we found nothing in his background that would suggest this at all,” he said.

“With his resignation, the Surry County Board and State Board can now, without distraction, move forward with the process of appointing a replacement,” Boliek later said in a statement.

Wilmington is about a 130-mile drive southeast from Raleigh. Surry County is northwest of Winston-Salem.

Politics reporter Kyle Ingram contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 9:16 AM.