On the heels of a much-publicized allegation (and later, a retraction) of a spiked drink at The Abbey, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department provided City Council with a comprehensive list of the experiences reported from 2016 to 2021 in which a victim believed their drink was spiked.
The report lists 31 total incidents.
Shockingly, 30 out of the 31 incidents were accompanied by a sexual assault. The report includes the location where the spiked drink was believed to have been served and where the victims were subsequently assaulted.
Some victims were raped in the bathrooms of the bars they were at, while many others were found on sidewalks or alleys, in motels or hospitals, often with no memory of how they came to be there.
The Abbey is named as the place where the allegedly spiked drink was served in 11 out of 31 cases.
This past July, comedian and WeHo resident Haely White claimed that a bartender at the popular establishment spiked her drink which led to a blackout and injuries.
She published her allegations on social media, drawing widespread media attention:
“On Thursday night 7/29, I believe I was severely drugged (‘roofied’) by a bartender at one of LA’s most popular gay bars, The Abbey. Within 15 minutes having half of my ONLY drink there, I collapsed, vomited at the bar and continued until I got home. I couldn’t function. I barely made it inside my home (see: face). I’m happy I’m alive to share this.”
Less than a month later, she publicly retracted her claims after reviewing The Abbey’s security camera footage. She now faces a lawsuit by The Abbey seeking more than $5 million in damages.
There has been a total of 164 rapes reported in West Hollywood since 2016.
The Sheriff’s report was compiled as the city prepares to revive its Only Yes Means Yes public information campaign, which promotes informed consent in sexual encounters.
The city is planning to distribute its messaging on coasters and napkins at West Hollywood bars, as well as through targeted ads on popular dating apps.
[…] a one-off, either. That same year, there were 31 spiked drinks and 30 incidents of sexual assault in the past five years, according to WEHOville. Just this past March, a 42-year-old man was arrested for drugging, sexual […]
[…] a one-off, either. That same year, there were 31 spiked drinks and 30 incidents of sexual assault in the past five years, according to WEHOville. Just this past March, a 42-year-old man was arrested for drugging, sexual […]
[…] The bar has also been the subject of repeated reports of sexual assault. […]
[…] Hollywood has long been a hotspot of spiked drugs and sexual assaults. West Hollywood resident Keely Fields, who herself was a […]
[…] Hollywood has long been a hotspot of spiked drugs and sexual assaults. West Hollywood resident Keely Fields, who herself was a […]
[…] assaults in Boystown/The Rainbow District. In September, the Sheriff’s Department noted 30 such incidents had been reported in the previous five […]
If you attribute all of the “private residence” reports to Ed Buck that makes the managers at the Abbey a lot worse even than Ed Buck.
Considering how this is probably the most under reported crime this figure probably only represents 1 or 2% of the actual incidents. The gay bars need to close, they have been corrupted by drug dealers and the drug crowd and are no longer safe spaces for the LGBTQ community. We need to promote other spaces.
I am in no way excusing the problem, but having 11 people getting their drinks spiked and being assaulted over a 6 year period at The Abbey, given its size and the amount of people that go there, is not that shocking. There are probably more that are unreported as well. People need to watch out for themselves when they go to a venue that is as crowded as the Abbey. Never put you drink down, watch your drink being made, and always go with friends so you can watch out for each other. Most of the patrons are good… Read more »
Everone that works in a bar knows who the drug dealers are, management chooses to allow them in or keep them out. This is definitely the bars fault, they have chosen profit over safety.
Even if what you say is true the drug dealers are their to sell drugs not spike drinks. If you threw all the drug dealers out it won’t help the situtation unless you are suggesting the people are buying drugs, using them, and get so messed up that their drinks weren’t even spiked and they did it to themselves.
They create the environment. And I doubt any dealers care what you are ising that G for.
Could someone please ALSO talk about the influx of toxic, “bachelorette party” groups, that can come from as far North as Santa Barbara, and as far South as San Diego, and treat trendy gay dance bars, and their actual regular patrons, in Weho and Palm Springs as a type of selfie-freak show. These women are not members of the lgbt+ community, and hardly allies, and come to town pre-plastered, often on mini-busses that serve liquor, and maybe other mood-altering products? I have lost count of the seemingly well-dressed, probably well brought-up women on the curbs of Robertson and Santa Monica… Read more »
WeHo’s a sewer these days. It’ll hit a rapid decline in the not-too-distant future.
Shut up Bob, you don’t live here now, how would you know? Also, why are you reading a Weho newsletter? If the desert is so damn great, then mind what is going on there, and not here. So tired of bitter people.
it’s already in rapid decline. it’s a filthy lawless city posing as a progressive utopia.
You don’t even live here.
It is absolutely impossible for a venue owner to prevent patrons from roofie-ing other patrons. For those who think this responsibility falls on the venue, please share with the group how on earth you think venue owners and management are supposed to accomplish such byzantine small scale monitoring? The responsibility of drink guardianship falls on the consumer of that drink, and nobody else in the entire world but that person. If you do not trust someone implicitly, buy and keep a watchful eye over your own drink. Dont leave it to go to the restroom, to dance, to go over… Read more »
They could keep the drug dealers out, that would go a long way towards making the spaces safer. Everyone who works in the bars knows who the dealers are.