Wilmington man arrested for allegedly trying to drug his granddaughters

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington man has been arrested on child abuse charges after he allegedly tried to drug his two granddaughters.

According to the Wilmington Police Department, an officer was flagged down by James Yokeley, 66, at the Sheetz gas station at 2517 Shipyard Blvd on August 8th.

Yokeley informed the officer that his two granddaughters had found pills in the ice cream they had recently purchased at the Dairy Queen. 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.

WPD detectives were notified and opened an investigation.

During the investigation, police say it was determined by video footage that Yokeley had been the one who placed the two pills into both victims’ ice cream.

Yokeley has been charged with contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, felony child abuse, and felony possession of Schedule I narcotics.

He was transported to the New Hanover County Detention Center and posted a $100,000 secured bond.

According to LinkedIn, Yokeley used to be the vice president of the key clients’ accounts for NC State Ports Authority and is the current CEO of Logistics Advantage LLC.