Elderly man gives woman cookies; doesn't disclose it's got pot inside

PORT ORANGE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Port Orange Police say an elderly man gave a woman cookies without telling her there was pot inside.

William Van Arsdale was arrested earlier this week. By Friday night, the 70-year-old had bonded out of jail and was back at home.

“It was a cookie with just a little bit of marijuana in it,” Van Arsdale told FOX 35. “It wasn’t meant to do any harm.”

According to an arrest report, Van Arsdale offered the cookies to an employee at the Coral Bay Villas apartments in Port Orange where he lives. The report says the woman got woozy and told a friend she thought she had been drugged. She was taken to the hospital to get checked out.

Van Arsdale says he thought there was such a small amount in the cookie it wouldn’t hurt her.

“She doesn’t hold it against me,” he told FOX 35.

He says the woman has forgiven him but he’s still in a lot of legal trouble. The arrest report says police found more marijuana in Van Arsdale’s apartment and that he’s been charged with three felonies.

He says he’s not guilty.