Incoming Mecklenburg commissioner misses court hearing on DWI charge
A Gaston County judge issued an arrest order for Mecklenburg candidate Yvette Townsend-Ingram after she didn’t appear in court Friday morning for a pending DWI charge.
Townsend-Ingram then told The Charlotte Observer by phone that her lawyer was supposed to appear on her behalf to tell the court she had COVID-19. She declined to comment further.
Townsend-Ingram is one of three Democrats running unopposed in November for three at-large seats on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. She was arrested for driving while impaired and a liquor law violation in May.
After she didn’t show up in court Friday, Judge Craig Collins also issued Townsend-Ingram a $20,000 secured bond.
Speaking with The Observer in May, Townsend-Ingram said she “was not in a good mental state” and went to a park in Belmont. She parked her car and began drinking from a bottle of wine.
She previously said she was struggling with the recent death of her brother and being unexpectedly laid off from her job at the time of her arrest. Townsend-Ingram said in her Observer candidate survey before the primary that she was the director of foundation relations at Johnson C. Smith University.
She was not driving the vehicle, she said, but left it running to keep the air conditioning on and fell asleep.
Because the car was turned on, she was charged with a DWI, she said.
A police report said Townsend-Ingram was arrested at Kevin Loftin Riverfront Park at 8:55 p.m. on May 1. She was booked at 11:34 p.m. for DWI and “open container after consuming alcohol.”
Gaston County Sheriff’s Office records said she was released hours later on a written promise to appear in court.
A breathalyzer test said her blood alcohol content was more than two and a half times the legal limit, Observer news partner WSOC previously reported. The legal limit in North Carolina is 0.08.
Townsend-Ingram finished third out of five candidates in March’s Democratic primary for the three at-large seats on the county board. She received 23.67% of the vote. The top three Democratic primary finishers are unopposed in November’s general election because no Republicans filed to run in the race.
She previously said she was “taking responsibility” for her actions and said her experience helps her understand the importance of mental health care.
“I want people to understand that, one, I can empathize with issues that come up in life and, two, mental wellness is a critically important thing to me, and the county has services for mental health … It’s important how you go through, how you move forward after you’ve made a mistake,” Townsend-Ingram said.
The pending court case is not expected to affect her eligibility as a candidate.
Observer reporter Mary Ramsey contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 30, 2024 at 10:36 AM.
