The Healdsburg Police Department is investigating around seven reports — two of which were received on April 7 — of alleged drugging incidents in Healdsburg, some of which may go back to November 2021. In each case, the reporting party reported that they believed their drink was spiked with drugs while at Duke’s Spirited Cocktails. As of April 11, Healdsburg Police Sgt. John Haviland said that there is currently no proof that any of the reported incidents have taken place at Duke’s.
In an interview on April 7, Haviland said it appears that the reported incidents of drugging did not result in subsequent sexual assault.
A report that was submitted to police on April 4 was of a drugging that allegedly occurred at Duke’s the prior weekend. Haviland said the reporting party’s inclination is that it happened at Duke’s, however, after an officer review of surveillance footage, Haviland said “it was clear” that the person’s drink couldn’t have been tampered with.
Police are still actively investigating each report and Duke’s is cooperating with the investigation.
“We’re the ones who called them and delivered the video, as soon as we saw this Facebook post, and they’re conducting their investigation, and we think that’ll be wrapped up really soon,” said David “Duke” Ducommun, owner of Duke’s Spirited Cocktails.
Haviland said he couldn’t comment on any details of the report since it is an ongoing investigation. Healdsburg officer Nick Doherty is leading the investigation and Haviland said the preliminary investigative work has started on the report received on April 4.
News of an alleged drugging that was reported on April 4 first came out as a social media post that was made on April 3 on Facebook that read: “I have contemplated all day posting this. Last night around 9 p.m. I was roofied at Duke’s. I have heard from multiple women today that they or someone they know have had the exact same thing happen to them there. This has to stop. Thank God that I made it home safely to my family but I know there are others who have not been as fortunate.”
The post quickly became viral among people in the community, especially women. An individual shared the post and added it was the fifth time she had heard of this happening in the last month.
“Ladies please be mindful of the people around you. More importantly business, what are you doing to keep the women you serve safe?” her addition read.
The individual provided the information of another victim. SoCoNews reached out and she declined to comment in fear of being discredited.
According to Haviland, since claims of drugging incidents have sprung up on social media, additional reports of drugging have been received by the police department. On April 7, the police department received two reports.
“One occurred back in November possibly,” Haviland said.
Additionally, the department received word on Jan. 30 of a similar case that came into dispatch as a medical call. Police are looking into that report as well.
Another incident was reported on Nov. 22, 2021. The reporting party in that case said they believe the actual event happened a week prior on Nov. 13. An additional incident was reported on Nov. 15, 2021, but the incident itself possibly occurred at an earlier date. Police are looking back into each case.
When going out to bars or restaurants, Haviland said an important thing to remember is to never take a drink from someone you don’t know and to never leave your drink unattended.
After word grew on social media of the alleged incident, Vice Mayor Ariel Kelley addressed the situation on her Facebook.
Kelley’s statement reads, “This alleged crime has been reported to HPD as of Monday 4/4. Original Post: It was brought to my attention that there is a Facebook post from an alleged victim who was drugged at a local bar in Healdsburg this weekend. According to the Healdsburg chief of police, this alleged crime was unfortunately not reported to local authorities. I want to stress to all victims, your identity can remain anonymous. While you may not feel confident in the evidence you think there may be of the alleged crime, please report it anyway. Your anonymous tip could prevent someone else from being victimized in the future. For more information or to report a non-life threatening crime, please contact Healdsburg Police at 707-431-3377.”
People in the community began to comment on Duke’s Spirited Cocktails’ Instagram asking for a statement.
One person commented she worked at a business down the street and felt uncomfortable about how many people have come out about getting drugged at the establishment. On Thursday, April 7, Duke’s posted a statement to its Facebook and Instagram pages.
In part, the statement reads,“To the Healdsburg community and Duke’s patrons, we are actively cooperating with the Healdsburg PD in their investigation of these alleged incidents. Every member of the Duke’s team is committed to patron safety and always have been.”
“I can tell you that, the events are, I know, we saw a Facebook post Monday morning, where one of our customers said that she was in the bar Friday night and was drugged. So upon seeing this Facebook post, we called the police, we sent them the full color video of every inch of the bar during the time that patron was there. We’ve cooperated in everything they’ve asked us. We were proactive,” Ducommun told SoCoNews.
“We do take risks of crime very seriously, and especially risks of drugging or even worse that, you know, have happened in nightclub settings and bars throughout America. We take it very seriously. We have a full security system that covers every inch of the bar, in color, in night vision, so we can always know what’s going on. We keep six security guards on staff and have since the end of COVID, to monitor what’s going on in the bar. In addition, all our bartenders are trained in bar and patrons safety. And that’s always been priority number one. And our goal has always been to create a safe and fun environment for all our patrons, and especially our female guests. I think you’re going to see some further measures taken from us, even though we don’t necessarily think anything untoward happened to us in this particular instance, it is an area of heightened concern,” he said.
When it comes to other police reports being made, Ducommun said the bar has been aware of such claims.
Haviland said there was one report of drugging at Duke’s in 2019, but the case was dropped.
“We had a report back in 2019 where a female victim actually had a suspect. Our detective handled that case and determined through investigation that they had been to multiple, multiple establishments over the course of an evening and the subject had consumed large quantities of alcohol and there was never any indication that either of their drinks had been tampered with,” Haviland said.
“We’ve looked at those police reports. Frankly, none of those incidents were charges filed or a suspect identified in the ones that I’m aware of. The person who made the complaint (in 2019) recanted upon watching the videos and saw that they may have consumed a little more alcohol than they remembered. I’m not aware of any actual instances where this has happened. You know, keep in mind, this has been a bar since 1880. I’m sure … over its long history, there have been instances, but we’ve done our best to make it as safe a place as possible, since I’ve owned it since 2015,” he said.
Christine Castillo, executive director of Verity, Sonoma County’s rape crisis, trauma and healing center, said people being drugged in bars and in similar settings is not uncommon.
She said years ago it was occurring at almost epidemic proportions. “Every weekend we’d have a report of this happening.” She said this happened for about a year and then decreased.
At the time, Verity conducted campaigns around how to be safe and aware when going out to bars or restaurants and conducted training sessions with bartenders at several Sonoma County bars.
“If you are out — and it is unfortunate that we have to — you take your drink with you, you don’t share your drinks with anybody and if someone offers to buy you a drink and you want them to buy you a drink, that’s OK, but you place the order for your drink and the bartender gives you your drink. You never leave your drink unattended and if you do, start fresh, even if it’s going to cost you more money, it’s better to start fresh than to take a risk,” Castillo said.
“I’m sure that it has continued, but just (has) not been reported. Maybe people during COVID might have been having at home parties and not remembering what happened. That’s what happens when you’re given one of these drugs. Whenever you wake up you feel like something is different, your clothes are askew, your body feels different and that’s when you recognize that something may have occurred to you and you make the call if you want to report, or people call our crisis line and can ask for information, ‘I think this might have happened to me, I’m not really sure,’ then we can give them some support and guidance,” she said.
She said they ask callers in these situations if they’d like to make a police report, or whether they’d like to have a sexual assault exam.
Those who have been drugged and survivors of drug-facilitated sexual assualt (which as defined by Verity is sex after being given drugs or “roofied,” or drunk nonconsensual sex or sex while drugged) may not report the incident for a number of reasons.
“People unfortunately blame themselves. They do the ‘shoulds,’ ‘I shouldn’t have gone out,’ ‘I should’ve been more mindful.’ It is not their fault. No one has a right to do that to them at all,” Castillo said. “I think the more the word is out there, then the more people will call our crisis line, and that is a really good place to start if you don’t know what to do.”
The crisis line (707-545-7273) is a free and confidential crisis line available in English and Spanish, 24/7, seven days a week and during holidays. People are welcome to call the hotline no matter how long ago an assault happened and whether or not they know if any assault happened.
“They can give them the support they may need at that moment, whether it is just an ear to listen and ways to take care of themselves, or if they want to report but they might not want to do it right away, or explaining to them how to save the evidence, all of the different elements that can go into making a report,” Castillo said.
