Several women reported feeling drugged after drinking downtown, at a frat house and a residence, with three reporting sexual assault
Davis police say they are investigating seven separate reports of women who believe they were drugged while drinking in Davis within the month of June and July. Three of the women also say they were sexually assaulted.
The majority of the alleged incidents occurred at bars in downtown Davis. Police declined to name the bars, as the victims typically reported drinking at multiple bars on the evenings in question.
One of the reported druggings occured at a fraternity party and another at a residence, police said.
Davis police lieutenant Paul Doroshov said that the reports occurred throughout the months of June and July. He believed the majority of the reported victims were either students or “at least of student-age.”
Each of the women reported a level of intoxication inconsistent with the amount of alcohol they had consumed, Doroshov said, adding the women reported experiencing “some degree of loss of consciousness or loss of awareness.” Three reported victims also said that they believed they were sexually assaulted after the alleged druggings.
“Somebody would basically say, ‘Hey, I only had three drinks, I’m used to drinking that much, […] but then this time I had three drinks, I was blacked out and I don’t remember the last five hours,’” Doroshov said.
Police do not have any toxicological information related to the recent cases, Doroshov said, making it difficult for them to establish whether reported victims were drugged or had an “adverse effect to alcohol.”
It’s also not clear whether the recent incidents are connected, Doroshov said, since the reported druggings occurred at different locations throughout the city.
“It’s hard for us to say [whether] they’re connected,” Doroshov said. “There are a lot of outliers.”
The new reports came in the wake of three other separate reports of druggings in Davis which took place last spring. In April and May, three UC Davis students reported experiencing unusual degrees of intoxication that were inconsistent with the amount of alcohol consumed, in addition to memory blackouts and strange behavior. The alleged incidents occurred at two different downtown bars: Bistro 33 and G Street Wunderbar.
Police did obtain one toxicology report associated with these incidents, Doroshov said, and confirmed that one of the victims had an “unidentified substance” in her bloodstream.
Police are investigating the recent reports in addition to working with organizations and downtown bar staff to spread awareness about the prevention of drink-drugging and sexual assaults, Doroshov said.
“We’re investigating events that happened, and of course the ones that were reported to us that are possibly sexual assaults — we investigate those thoroughly,” Doroshov said. “We’re going to work with ATOD [Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Intervention Services] at UCD, along with Sexual Assault Prevention [and] with the bars to raise awareness this fall that people should take precautions.”
Doroshov said it’s important for students to practice safe drinking habits and to get medical care as soon as possible if they suspect that they have been drugged.
“Watch your drink, bring a friend with you and if you do feel something unusual that is not consistent with the amount of alcohol [you’ve consumed], you should seek medical attention right away,” Doroshov said. “Some people want to report to us, some don’t — we understand that — but at least get yourself taken care of.”
Written by: Tim Lalonde — city@theaggie.org
