A 24-year-old man who allegedly tried to slip a drug into a woman’s drink before he was thwarted by three good Samaritans appeared in a Los Angeles court today after he was charged with two felonies, authorities said.
Michael Roe Chien Hsu was arraigned on charges of felony administering a drug and felony assault with intent to commit a sex crime, according to Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Oksana Sigal.
Hsu pleaded not guilty to the charges and was issued a protective order against the alleged victim by the judge. Also, he must turn over his passport and pilot license.
His bail was originally set at $1 million, but it was reduced to $350,000 in court. It is unclear if he has a lawyer.
The case gained national attention after three friends at a Santa Monica hotel said they noticed a man at a nearby table acting “pretty suspicious” after his female companion left to go to the restroom Thursday during happy hour.
“I thought he was trying to lace her drink,” Monica Kenyon told ABC News. “He for sure dropped something into her drink.”
One of the women then went to the restroom to alert the woman, who replied that he was one of her “best friends,” according to Kenyon.
3 Women Credited With Stopping Potential Sexual AssaultWhen another woman alerted the restaurant’s staff, the manager called police after reviewing the restaurant’s security footage.
In a Facebook post, Sonia Ulrich, one of the three women, wrote a detailed account of the alleged events, accompanied by a photo of them in a “Charlie’s Angels” pose with the caption “Don’t roofie someone on our watch” — using slang for a sedative associated with date rape. The post has been shared more than 115,000 times.
Ulrich wrote that after the incident, restaurant patrons continued to approach their table to share their gratitude and tell stories about people close to them who have been date-raped.
“I really wanted people to know that if they say something, it can make a difference,” Ulrich wrote.