"No one deserves this," 2 women say bartender drugged them
DALLAS - A warning as you make your weekend plans: Dallas police have confirmed that they are investigating after two women filed reports saying that a bartender tampered with their drinks at Harlowe MXM, a popular Deep Ellum restaurant and bar.
"I still feel very scared," shares Breyanna Knox, 29. "I feel panicky and emotional... I went to the gas station to pump gas and I cried."
Knox and a childhood friend, Nakia Robertson, say last Saturday night they planned for a safe and rare 'girls night out'. At the entrance to Harlowe's, they say they were asked how badly they wanted to get in, and were only granted entrance after they promised to "show some love to the bartender."
The friends say they planned to have some drinks so didn't think much of the interaction... but now they question everything—especially after what happened next.
"I knew after my second shot that I didn't feel right," says Robertson. "And I expressed it to her (Breyanna). I said, 'I'm... I'm not feeling right. I feel like I'm drunk already. Like, something's not right.'"
Robertson says she then became violently ill. And later, so did Knox.
Now the friends say looking back, they find it odd that the bartender resisted their efforts to pay for the drinks.
"And he was just either walking off or, like, not acting as if he did not care and never reply," explains Knox. "For me, it was the fact that he took a shot with us while being on the clock and he kept the shots coming."
Now alarmed, the woman called friends to come and get them and managed to get out of the bar.
"And I was on the ground, sitting in the rain on the ground," shares Robertson. "And after that, I don't remember anything."
Sick, disoriented and waiting for their friends to get them home, in the chaos Robertson's keys disappeared. So Knox was shocked when she looked at her phone and found a text message at about 1:30 Sunday morning from a man who had identified himself at the bar as being the head of security.
In the text message, he offers to get her an Uber to his "crib until we figure it out."
The red flags, then, were on fire.
"That was very odd," says Knox. "And that's when we were like, 'We need to go to Harlowe's.'"
On Sunday, the friends say they shared the text message and everything that had happened with the bar management and received promises that they would be contacted. To date, they say, they have not.
Next, was a trip to the hospital where a drug screen confirmed amphetamine in Knox's blood—and she insists that she had taken no medications of any kind.
"I was angry. I was angry, I was heartbroken because if you go out for a simple girls night and only anticipate to be gone for a few hours, having a few drinks with your best friend, you don't expect to wake up a few hours later, going to the hospital and finding out that you have amphetamine in your system," exclaims Knox. "That I did not take."
CBS News Texas has made repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact the bar management. Their phone goes to a voicemail box, that's full.
Friday, a message was posted to Harlowe MXM's Instagram page. It states the following:
"Since being notified Sunday, Nov. 26th, we have been diligently investigating these allegations made by Ms. Robertson and Ms. Knox. Our security company and management team have been interviewing staff and reviewing video to ascertain what happened that evening.
We have operated restaurants in Dallas for thirty years, and have never experienced a situation remotely resembling this. Harlowe MXM holds guest safety in the highest regard and that will never change.
We are fully committed to learning the truth along with Ms. Robertson and Ms. Knox. Our internal investigation is almost completed. To the extent we are able, we will assist law enforcement in helping them get to the bottom of what happened."
The friends shared what happened with their inner circle, but were encouraged to go public to warn others: and no surprise as to what happened next.
"My DMs are flooded with other victims... similar situations that happened to them at the same exact establishment," says Knox. "They're like, 'The same thing happened to me...I thought I was crazy, which is why I didn't report it.'"
Now, with their reports in hand, the women want police to make sure it does not ever happen to anyone else. They say they have also retained attorneys and are asking other victims to contact the Tucker Law Firm as well, insisting they are fighting to make sure what happened to them is not ignored.
"No. No one. No one," they said in unison. "No one deserves this."
