No charges in alleged drink tampering case at Chillicothe bar, police say

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – Police have decided not to press charges in the case of a local woman who said she was drugged at a bar.

The incident occurred in April and the Guardian obtained the report after it was previously withheld by the Chillicothe Police Department.

Officers investigated possible drink tampering at the Cozy Inn on Western Avenue after the woman sought medical attention at Adena Regional Medical Center (ARMC), suspecting her drink had been drugged.

According to police reports, the woman reported feeling strange and experiencing tremors after having a drink at the bar and grill on April 6. She had been bar-hopping with a friend, starting at a bar outside Chillicothe, then heading to another bar, where they met four men. After leaving the second bar, they went to the Cozy Inn, where the woman began to feel unwell.

The woman said one of the men she had just met that evening bought her a drink, after which she started feeling strange and eventually passed out. Concerned for her well-being, her neighbor took her to the ARMC emergency room. Medical examinations were carried out and she signed a release form allowing police access to her medical records.

During the investigation, the woman mentioned that the man who bought her the drink made sexual advances toward her after learning that she could not drive him home. She noted that the other men she encountered that night supported her and defended her against him.

Officers spoke with a bartender at the Cozy Inn, who said security cameras had been installed and promised to review the footage for suspicious activity. The owner of the Cozy Inn and another establishment agreed to provide video footage and expressed their intention to exclude the man from both establishments.

Initial laboratory results from the woman's urine sample indicated the presence of amphetamines and ethanol. The woman later mentioned that she had taken an antibiotic called metronidazole, which can react with alcohol and cause symptoms similar to those she experienced. Further tests for GHB were carried out, but the results were insufficient to charge anyone with a criminal offence.

The case is now closed due to lack of evidence.