Via Sinister Girl comes a great story about women looking out for each other to prevent rape.
After two female bartenders in San Francisco noticed a man dump white powder into his date's beer, they hatched a plan.
[Bartender Karri] Cormican returned to the table and told [would-be date rapist Joseph] Szlamnik and his date, whom the court identified only as Tatiana K., then 34, that the woman's beer had come from a fermented keg and that they were going to replace it. Cormican brought her a Stella Artois.Cormican carried the adulterated Hefeweizen to Bridgeman-Oxley [the other bartender] and out of sight into a back room. They held it up to the light and saw, unmistakably, a white powder. At a preliminary hearing last summer, Nikolas Lemos, chief forensic toxicologist at the San Francisco medical examiner's office, identified the powder as zalepron, a prescription sleeping drug sold as Sonata.
After seeing the white powder, Bridgeman-Oxley said she "panicked a little bit. We had to figure out a way to keep her away from this man."
So when Tatiana stepped outside for a cigarette, Cormican went out and showed her the "adulterated Hefeweizen," explaining what she had seen. And then:
The [other] bartender rushed outside to tell the two women that while they had been talking, Szlamnik had dropped two pills into the new beer Tatiana had left behind on the table."He did it again," she said.
All three women looked through a window and saw Szlamnik trying to wipe up beer that had foamed over the edge of Tatiana's glass and was fizzing as if there were Alka-Seltzer in it.
In fact, as Dr. Lemos would later testify, the pills were alprazolam, commonly sold as Xanax, a central nervous system depressant prescribed to relieve anxiety. "In combination with alcohol," Lemos testified at the preliminary hearing, the two drugs "are encountered frequently in drug-facilitated sexual assaults ... without giving the victim the chance ... to even realize what's going on."
When they went back inside, Szlamnik -- who last week was sentenced to a year in jail -- told Tatiana they were leaving. To which the two bartenders replied, "Your date's over, mister. She's staying with us."
So awesome.
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I loved this story. Between this and the AutoAdmit email-identifying sting operation, I feel like real life is turning into a cool feminist episode of Veronica Mars.
it's just too bad that he was sentenced for "transporting and furnishing a drug" instead of attempted rape since now he won't have to register as a sex offender.
i shudder to think how many times he might have done this before and/or how it might have turned out if he hadn't been caught this time.
there was another bar (in the marina) in SF a few years ago where one of the (male) bartenders was helping several guys pass GHB to women. he wasn't actually putting it in the drinks, but he knew it was going on and didn't try to stop it. unfortunately, it got practically zero press and i can't even remember the name of the bar anymore. i avoid the marina entirely anyway, on principle, but still.
Can we give these bartenders a prize or something? Because they totally rock, and I wish I had them watching my back.
That story just made my day! Damn! Those women are awesome.
it's just too bad that he was sentenced for "transporting and furnishing a drug" instead of attempted rape since now he won't have to register as a sex offender.
Thanks for pointing that out, ms. jared. I'll correct the post.
That is indeed a great story. Way to go ladies!
the SF gate article says that the attempted rapist offered to buy a drink for the women after they confronted him about drugging his date's drink. umm...what part of "the jig is up" don't you understand, dumb ass?
What's worse, if she had any opiates in her system it would have been leathal.
Is it reactionary to suggest the invention of stylish sippy-cups?
seriously a brilliant story. love. it.
and the bartenders definitely deserve some trophies... no matter how much they don't want to be called "heroines", i think there's a time and a place for modesty and this is not one of 'em.
thanks to feministing for helping to vault 'em up there, too, 'cos the more we recognize everyday folks who're looking out for each other, the more common it'll be...
peace,
puck
also, i think the story ms. jared spoke of is pretty important... a cautionary tale to avoid the marina at any cost... really... unless you're going to visit the elephant seals...
This story just put a little flutter of happiness into my heart!
*so* awesome.
I play in a band with Hannah's brother, and have known Hannah for years. Wish I could tell you more about her, as she's one tough woman. She'd probably balk at being called a hero, though. This is just how she is.
Fuck yeah, good on 'em
Good news! Finally, something that's not depressing.
This brightened my day a little. I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes after reading all the negative articles about women, I just get so downtrodden. I just read this article about a man who ran over a woman on the sidewalk because she wouldn't pay him any attention. That, and I had to listen to my male coworkers talk for half an hour about "chicks" and "chick flicks". G'uh.
On the one hand, I'm delighted by a story of women looking out for each other and preventing a rape.
On the other, I'm incredibly pissed off.
I just can't believe what an absolute asshole that guy was. I can't wrap my head around it. She liked him. She trusted him--when told what he'd done, she couldn't believe it. She thought he was a nice guy. She had agreed to go out with him. Her "body language" with him on the date him was positive.
And that wasn't fucking enough for him.
No, he had to have his pussy now, tonight, on their first date. He wasn't willing to settle for spending some time with her, or even just seeing how things went--she might even have had sex with him that night willingly. NO, he couldn't be bothered. He wanted his guaranteed (albeit unconscious) conquest. And obviously he fully expected to get away with it, since presumably he'd have seen her again at their dance classes afterward. This creep didn't think there was anything wrong with drugging and ultimately raping a woman who already liked and trusted him and might have slept with him anyway, probably because he figured it was his right to fuck her when and how he wanted. Talk about entitlement with a capital "E".
And yet, with assholes like this out wandering the streets (with no sex offenses on their criminal record, no less!) women will still get shit about being paranoid man-haters if we refuse to trust men immediately, and told we fucking should have known better than to trust a guy after he's raped us.
Sorry for the bile. Sometimes the irony of the situation is enough to just reach up and choke you. Today's not going to be a good day...
I think I'd better spend the next hour or so looking at baby bunnies and kitties on CuteOverload.
Back after lunch.
Y'know, MaryB, even that article can brighten your day! Look at what police officers said about that entitled man:
You see? That, too, is a story of people looking out for each other and feeling passionate about punishing entitled people who harm other people.
At the very least - Attempted sexual assault, attempted battery, and attempted poisoning (which could arguably lead to attempted murder.
Since he tried twice, he should have 2x for each charge.
Should be a life sentence, should it not? If we can sentence medical pot users (with permission from his/her state) for 10, 15, and 20 years a hitch, this should be a lifer, no questions asked. Especially since his threat to society is easily proven.
This guy is what, in his forties? How long do we all think that this behavior has been going on? I seriously doubt that this was his first try on the rape scene.
He probably doesn't even think of it as rape. He probably thinks he's just greasing the wheels a little.
*wretch*
HOLY SHIT! I went on my first date through eHarmony with this guy, just this past Friday (March 14, 2008). His profile was that of a mellow guy. The date was a little weird but I am a very forward person and am also active military so maybe that's why he didn't drug me, thank god! During the date he said that he had been in jail from a pharmaceutical drug addiction and that he was innocent. WELL, I went to the San Francisco court records website and found out that there was a lot more to that story, then when I googled his name I happened upon the article published by the Chronicle and your blog. I called eHarmony immediately, asked for my $ back and to close my account. Can you believe he is attempting to date over the internet now? And the lady who wrote that his conviction shows no record of him being a sex offender really hits home. Would a sex offender be able to register with a dating company such as the overpriced eHarmony????? I'll stay single....