TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo police investigation into sexual assault allegations at a local bar is ongoing.
The investigation began last May after victims reported they were either drugged and/or sexually assaulted at the Tin Can bar located on S. Erie Street in downtown Toledo.
The allegations date as far as back as 2018.
Tin Can Bar Barred is a recently created Instagram page and website where the creator is asking for people to share their stories of being allegedly drugged at the Tin Can.
The creator requested to remain anonymous for an interview, although they have a personal story of their own.
"We believe that my friend was roofied and we didn't realize it until the next morning," the creator said. "She had a total of two drinks, not even two drinks at Tin Can. She didn't even finish her second drink, it was a mixed drink and not even half an hour later, she couldn't walk. She was violently throwing up. She wasn't able to form sentences."
Their friend ended up okay physically, but emotionally, not so much.
"She didn't want to pursue anything further, because she felt as though it was her fault and that's something that I don't want anyone else to ever feel," the creator said.
After this incident happened a few weeks ago, the creator researched the bar online and discovered other serious allegations, so they created the website to raise awareness and for others to share if they believe they've experienced suspicious incidents at the bar.
It's not uncommon for victims to feel afraid of retaliation, to blame themselves, or to feel as though the perpetrator will never be caught, according to Lt. Kellie Lenhardt, a spokesperson with TPD. But she still encourages victims to file a police report, to call 911 or go to the hospital so a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination (SANE) kit, which gathers DNA evidence such as bodily fluid, hair and skill cells, can be performed.
The sooner a SANE kit is performed, the more evidence can be collected.
"At the end of the day, if a person is caught and charged with this sexual assault, the victim could've prevented this from happening to somebody else," Lenhardt said. "Sexual assaults are usually done by repeat offenders. It's usually not a one time thing so if there's one victim, then there's probably more than one."
Police take several steps to make victims feel more comfortable reporting crimes, including minimizing how many times a victim has to repeat what happened to her or him. TPD has a soft interview room at their Special Victims Unit which is warm and comforting. A female victim can also request to speak with a female officer if that's their preference.
We checked to see if any police reports have been filed relating to drugging or sexual assault since the TPD investigation began in May 2020, and we found found only one report was filed for "suspicious activity" in late February of this year. In the report, the victim states someone at the bar joked they were going to roofie her friends' drinks.
The bar manager allegedly replied that person was just joking, but the victim filed a police report anyway out of caution.
WTOL 11 reached out to Tin Can's manager multiple times this week over the phone, but haven't received any response regarding the allegations from the manager or the owner as of Friday evening.
Police have made no arrests in the investigation and their detectives continue to collect evidence.