CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating after a second woman came forward claiming she was drugged at the Epicentre.
According to the police report filed Wednesday, the 23-year-old victim believes she was drugged at Suite in the Epicentre sometime after 10 p.m. on Friday, June 8.
This is the second reported drugging at the popular uptown hangout in a month’s time. Lea McGuirk said her drink was drugged on May 12 at Rooftop 210 when she searched inside her purse for her wallet.
The Defenders did some digging and found there's no state law that specifically deals with drugging someone's drink. We brought those findings to a state representative proposed changes to the law. Just days later, new legislation made its way through the state capitol.
State Representative Chaz Beasley told NBC Charlotte Senate Bill 768 would clearly define the crime of drugging someone so that it could be directly tied to rape cases. It’s meant to simplify and streamline the process of charging someone in those crimes.
“Making sure people that people don’t have to worry about being revictimized because they can’t get justice,” Representative Beasley previously told NBC Charlotte.
The bill passed the senate Thursday evening and passed the house Wednesday night. The next stop is the governor's desk.
“I am so grateful to Representative Beasley for taking this so far in such a short amount of time, and to you for bringing this to his attention,” McGuirk told NBC Charlotte.
In addition to these two cases, NBC Charlotte has learned of eight other reports at the Epicentre this year involving drugging, sex offenses, or both.
“Apparently my eyes rolled to the back of my head,” McGuirk said. “My vision started to go out and I started to hear this weird hissing or crackling sound.”
When McGuirk went to CMPD headquarters a couple weeks after the incident to file a report, officers said she needed to go back to the scene for police to investigate. CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano said detectives handled the case wrong from the start.
“There is no requirement for someone who may have been victimized in this kind of nature to go back to scene, so there was some misinformation there,” CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano said. “It’s certainly regrettable this young lady didn’t receive the immediate customer service; we are certainly handling that internally to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
CMPD asks that anyone who consumes alcohol in a social setting to remember these safety tips:
o Watch your drink.
o Do not accept drinks from strangers. Accept it directly from the server.
o Attend with friends who you know and trust. Do not leave your friends as it can potentially put you in a vulnerable situation.
o In the event someone feels strange or out-of-sorts, seek medical attention immediately.
o If you feel you or someone with you may have been drugged, please report it to police as soon as possible.
NBC Charlotte reached out to the Epicentre management for comment, but so far have not heard back.
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