KALAMAZOO, MI – A woman whose viral TikTok video alleged her drink was drugged at Y Bar and Bistro in Kalamazoo first reported the incident to a Kalamazoo Public Safety officer, who she says defended the bar’s co-owner.
Allegations of drink tampering at the bar across from Western Michigan University’s campus made international headlines in mid-April after her TikTok video went viral.
Multiple women reported their drinks were drugged at the bar on April 12, according to police reports obtained by MLive through a Freedom of Information Act from Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. Their names were redacted in the reports.
Related: Alleged drink tampering at Kalamazoo bar prompts thousands to sign online petition
Public Safety Chief Vernon Coakley Jr. said in a video statement on April 15 that several detectives have been assigned to investigate the allegations.
The police investigation is still ongoing, Public Information Officer Ryan Bridges said. He said the case will be sent to the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office for review in the near future.
The woman who reported drink tampering to police made her first call to KDPS on April 13, the day after the incident. That call ended with an officer telling her he was friends with Y Bar co-owner Jon Rockwood, and there was no way Rockwood would drug drinks, according to the woman’s statement to police.
At that time, she told the officer she wanted to be anonymous.
In a separate report from KDPS Officer Aaron DeWaal, the officer describes one of the women making allegations over the phone on April 13. She told the officer that their drinks were tampered with but did not make an official report at that time, DeWaal’s report said.
After talking with the woman who declined to make the report, DeWaal said he called Rockwood and told him about the allegations.
Rockwood told DeWaal he was not aware of drugs being distributed in the bar, the report said.
When asked for a comment on why police notified Rockwood about the allegations at that point, KDPS Public Information Officer Bridges said there is nothing improper about informing people of allegations made against them.
The same woman who described her April 13 call to KDPS then attempted to file a report over the phone with Michigan State Police Paw Paw post. The trooper she spoke with asked her if it was about drinks being drugged before she even said anything about what happened, her statement said.
She told police in her statement that the trooper on the phone then made excuses for KDPS and told her she would have to make the report through them, the report said. Y Bar and Bistro is in the city of Kalamazoo.
The same woman and another person went to Western Michigan University Police to report the incident the next day, April 14. They were told to report to the “Kalamazoo police department,” the statement said.
They searched for Kalamazoo police and ended up at the Kalamazoo Township Police Department, where they were then directed to a KDPS station. From that station, they were sent to KDPS headquarters where an officer took the report on April 15, two days after the incident, according to police reports.
In those interviews with police, one woman said she suspects Rockwood put drugs in their drinks at Y Bar and Bistro, 2941 Howard St., when they were at the bar on April 12. Another woman said she saw Rockwood make the shots.
Rockwood, in a video statement released on YouTube May 5, said the allegations are completely false and the bar is cooperating fully with law enforcement. He did not respond to a request from comment for this article.
Related: Co-owner of Kalamazoo bar in drink tampering investigation denies wrongdoing
After taking the report and obtaining a search warrant, officers searched Y Bar on April 15, the police report said. They did not find any illegal items.
Police took video footage captured by cameras inside the bar on the night of the alleged drink tampering incident. The footage shows numerous people sitting at tables, at the bar and dancing while being served drinks throughout the night.
One woman said she had two drinks and two shots during a two-and-a-half-hour period, and then had almost no memories from the rest of the night.
The shots were provided by Rockwood, multiple people said in statements to police. Other people reported having one drink and two shots.
“She said they are regular drinkers and should never have been messed up after 2 drinks and one shot,” the police report said.
Five people reported to police they had little or no memory of that night after 9 p.m., following the second shot. One woman was shown a video of her falling on her face but did not remember it happening, the report said.
The women said they were not assaulted that night, according to the police report.
The women told police they liked going to Y Bar because the owners allowed them to drink even though they were younger than 21.
Protestors gathered outside Y Bar the week after the allegations were made public to bring awareness to the issue and help notify potential victims. The April incident was not the first time allegations were made of drink tampering at the bar.
One woman told police in January 2020, that she believed someone had “drugged her drink at the Y-Bar and raped her.” In November 2020 another woman told police she was sexually assaulted in the woods near the bar and did not remember parts of that night.
Related: Woman told police she was sexually assaulted after her drink was drugged at Y Bar in Kalamazoo
Bar co-owner Jon Newby told KDPS that he had worked with Rockwood for years, and there was no way Rockwood would drug anyone’s drinks, according to the police report.
Newby told police he and Rockwood went to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. One of the women alleged Rockwood had followed her and her friends there.
Rockwood and his 15-year-old son joined Newby his 10-year-old daughter on a trip to Florida, with plans of possibly meeting up with college students they knew there, Newby told police.
The first night, Newby stayed with a friend and Rockwood went to the college area of Fort Lauderdale to party with college students, Newby said.
Later in the week, some of the Y Bar employees came by Newby and Rockwood’s hotel to have drinks, Newby said.
One of the women who spoke with police said while in Fort Lauderdale, she saw Rockwood, who gave her a hug and offered to help her because her phone and wallet had been stolen. That was the only time she saw Rockwood there, the report said.
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