Franklin County Commissioner Arrested

Dare County Sheriff’s officials arrested a Franklin County commissioner Wednesday.

Harry Foy Jr. was charged with assaulting a female, possessing less than half an ounce of marijuana and possessing drug paraphernalia, according to Dare County Sheriff Rodney Midgett.

Foy was released Thursday morning after paying $2,000 bond, authorities said.

Foy told WRAL on Friday that he was on his boat on Pamlico Sound with three of his employees when a woman became hostile because he wouldn't head to shore so she could get something to eat. The woman ripped his shirt in a subsequent altercation, he said.

The marijuana was in a suitcase that belonged to one of the other employees on the boat, Foy said.

John Edwards, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, issued a statement Friday morning in support of Foy.

"Commissioner Harry Foy spoke to me and assured me that the charges and allegations against him are false. Commissioner Foy has always been a man of his word, and you can take that to the bank," Edwards said in the statement. "I will support him through this matter, and I encourage everyone who knows Harry to support him too."