Future Meck County Commissioner on the Gaston County Most Wanted List?

A Gaston County judge issued an arrest order for Mecklenburg County Commission candidate Yvette Townsend-Ingram after she didn’t appear in court Friday morning for a pending DWI charge. 

Townsend-Ingram then told a local paper 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 an open container violation back in May of this year.

Photo Courtesy Gaston County Sheriff's Office

After she didn’t show up in court Friday, Judge Craig Collins issued a bench warrant to "produce the defendant" he also set her bond at $20,000 secured.

She had been released on a written promise to appear. 

Speaking with a local paper after her arrest in May, Townsend-Ingram said she “was not in a good mental state” and went to a park in Belmont. 

There she parked her car and began drinking 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 candidate survey before the primary that she was the director of foundation relations at Johnson C. Smith University.

That seems to be in dispute. 

She also claims she was laid off, yet no one seems to recall any staff cutbacks at JCSU.

Townsend - Ingram claims she not driving the vehicle, although sitting in the driver's seat, and that she 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, 2024.

She was booked at 11:34 p.m. for DWI and “open container after consuming alcohol.” Gaston County Sheriff’s Office records show.

Gaston County Booking Info.

Local media reports that she was released hours later on a written promise to appear in court.

A breathalyzer test showed that her blood alcohol content was more than two and a half times the legal limit.

The legal limit in North Carolina is .08 which would give her a solid .20 BAC.

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.

However several sources claim that Yvette Townsend-Ingram is also known as Yvette Benita Ingram and that she's no stranger to being "locked-up" as this 2023 mugshot below shows.

Arrested for a felony charge of Assault or affray on a firefighter, or emergency personnel ...

(a). A person is guilty of a Class I felony if the person commits an assault or affray causing physical injury on any of the following persons who are ...on an emergency room physical or personnel, emt, firefighter and or other.

Photo Courtesy of MCSO

As with so many cases in Charlotte, the Mecklenburg County DA's Office dismissed the charges after countless continuances.

As for the Gaston County charges that will likely now go to trial in the coming months.

But if Yvette Townsend-Ingram is the same person as Yvette Benita Ingram how is she one of our next Mecklenburg County "at-large" Commissioners? 

How is this possible? 

And who really is she? 

Yvette Townsend-Ingram or Yvette Benita Ingram? Is she the same Yvette Ingram with a charge of "Assault With a Deadly Weapon in 1993?" Case number 93CR073606-590?

And then there's the 2016 assault charge filed by Cheryl Latrice Lankford of Capitol Heights, Maryland. Ingram also took out an assault warrant on Lankford. Both cases were dismissed,

If so she is clearly "unburdened by what has been" but how does that explain why the local media is silent?  

To quote a local source "It just never happened".

Cedar's Take:

Elections have consequences but clearly the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party doesn't care what type of person runs for office.

Frankly replacing long serving Pat Cotham with this idiot seems like an obvious mistake and just another reason to cut expenses and merge city and county governments.

Finally, why hasn't any local media mentioned these prior arrests? Never mind the civil cases against Ms. Townsend-Ingram or Benita Ingram.

And no you can't unvote her in November.

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