Police investigating after women allegedly drugged at bar

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This article was published 09/11/2021 (1605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman says she won’t return to a Brandon bar after she was allegedly drugged there Saturday night.

“I’ve always felt safe there, but I won’t be going back,” said the woman who believes she was roofied at Houstons Country Roadhouse over the weekend. The Sun is not naming her to prevent re-victimizing her.

Now, a petition is calling for improved safety measures at the bar. According to the petition, four women were drugged, leaving them “defenseless and vulnerable.”

Shaelyn Moulson, who started the petition, said she was at the bar with her friends that night. One of her friends flagged her down to tell her someone spiked a woman’s drink at approximately 12 a.m.

“She all of a sudden fell to the group and could not move, basically was paralyzed. They ended up getting her out of there and taking her to the hospital,” Moulson told the Sun.

She said she believes she and a friend were also targets of someone trying to spike their drink as a man was wrapping his arm around them and wouldn’t leave their sides.

Moulson said she wants to see the bar provide lid toppers or put plastic over drinks to make it harder to spike them. The petition had more than approximately 2,050 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

“I would personally love to see the bar do something to get everyone to be safe,” she said.

Late Monday afternoon, Houstons nightclub manager Kelsey Bell said the bar has purchased drink lids, which will now be available for free at the bar for customers if they want one.

She said security removed the man who allegedly spiked the drinks on Saturday and flagged his identity in the bar’s identification scanner. Staff will also continue to help police in the investigation.

“Our mission is to cultivate [a] safe and positive atmosphere for all guests and will continue to uphold our policies and procedures to ensure the safety of all guests,” she said.

“We openly support the petition for the safety of all the guests at our establishment and all establishments.”

The woman who believes she was drugged said she was on the dance floor at Houston’s when she felt her chest burning after taking a sip of her drink.

“I remember going to the washroom, and I remember being able to hear everything. My brain was working but my body wasn’t,” she said.

“My body was paralyzed. I thought I was answering, but I wasn’t. My eyes were apparently rolling into the back of my head.”

A friend of the woman, who the Sun also spoke to, said she texted their group chat at 11:45 p.m. saying she fell down the stairs and couldn’t see well. A few minutes later, some of her friends carried her out of the bathroom. They were at the hospital by approximately 12:15 a.m. Sunday.

The woman said the next thing she remembers is being in a wheelchair at the hospital. An emergency room doctor told her the drinks of several women may have been spiked that night.

The woman said she didn’t have many alcoholic drinks that night, so she doesn’t believe she was drunk.

On Monday, she said she is doing “OK,” but her body is sore and is having difficulty mentally.

Going forward, she said, she wants to see the bar provide cup covers to prevent drink tampering.

Sadie Yanyk, who was also at Houstons on Saturday, said she would like to see the bar put up posters raising awareness about the signs a drink could have been tampered with.

The Brandon Police Service is aware of two women who allegedly had their drinks spiked in the 3100 block of Victoria Avenue early Sunday morning, public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said.

“This was reported to BPS in the early morning hours of Nov. 7, 2021. I cannot confirm any more details other than that as the investigation is in the early stages,” she said.

Incidents of people having their drinks spiked are not common in Brandon, Sararas said, especially over recent months when public health orders closed many bars.

“It’s definitely something I think people need to be aware of when they’re having drinks out and meeting with others,” she said, adding people should only accept drinks directly from bartenders.

People can also help protect themselves by ordering drinks that come in their original container instead of in an open glass, she said.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_