Back in June, we broke a story about a taxpayer subsidized Bismarck night club known as “The Vault” hosting a “Girl’s Night Out” in which their male strippers took off a tad bit more than what city law allows. We even had pixelated picture evidence from an attendee to prove it. You can see that article here.
We now have a report from a Bismarck woman alleging that she was drugged with ketamine yesterday afternoon while in downtown Bismarck. The effects of which took place at a bar known as “The Pond”. In case you didn’t know, the Pond is owned by Kadlec Enterprises, LLC– the same company that owns The Vault.
For those unfamiliar with ketamine, according to one web site it “is a very powerful sedative, which is virtually undetectable until you notice the symptoms”. And, unfortunately, it is often used as a rape drug. For reasons that I hope you’ll understand, I’m withholding the name of the woman reporting this.
According to her account of yesterday’s events, she attended two bars with friends– The Blarney Stone and The Pond. The Blarney Stone is an “Authentic Irish Pub” owned by CIG Investments, LLP– who have also received taxpayer dollars for the Renaissance Zone.
CIG is an investment partnership that includes former North Dakota Insurance Commissioner and current Vice Chairman of the NDGOP, Jim Poolman– who is also husband to current State Senator and former candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Nicole Poolman.
The Bismarck woman affected by the drug
didn’t have much to drink, but while at The Pond she found herself suddenly disoriented, unable to walk, and has a vague recollection of vomiting in the bathroom. With the assistance of friends, she was taken to her home and later to the clinic where it was confirmed that ketamine was in her system.
To be clear, there is uncertainty about which establishment she was at when the ketamine was slipped into her drink. But considering that the effects of the drug kicked in while at The Pond, it seems that location is most likely to be the place that the drugging occurred.
In addition to the woman being at The Pond when she became disoriented, her social media account of the event has multiple responses from people who have either had similar experiences themselves or know of others who have. Two of those accounts came from former employees of The Pond.
Between taxpayers essentially subsidizing male strippers at The Vault and now an alleged drugging potentially taking place at The Pond, business could be hurting for Kadlec Enterprises. Thankfully, they seem to be taking the latter situation seriously. According to the woman involved, they have contacted her and are checking security footage in an effort to add to a report that is being filed with the Bismarck Police Department.
In and of itself, this is a horrible and unfortunate set of circumstances. And if we combine the previous story with this, we have elements of taxpayers subsidizing downtown bars – one of which is owned by a North Dakota politician and the other where there are occasional male strippers – with alleged incidences of rape drugs. This sounds more like a late night reality show than what I envision for downtown at the state’s capital. Where did Bismarck go wrong?
Sources:
1. http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/date-rape-drug-ketamine-effects-p114/
2. https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&q=definition+of+ketamine&oq=definition+of+ketamine&gs_l=psy-ab.3…3848.8678.0.8843.32.26.3.0.0.0.303.3538.1j16j4j1.22.0….0…1.1.64.psy-ab..8.20.3022.6..0j35i39k1j0i131k1j0i20k1j0i67k1j0i20i46k1j46i20k1j33i160k1.oLgOO-_x7Ac 3. http://bismarcktribune.com/business/local/bar-owners-plan-new-business-in-downtown-bismarck/article_4dced448-257a-11df-9238-001cc4c002e0.html
4 . http://www.bismarcknd.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03092017-198
5 . https://www.ndgop.org/pages-for-menu/officials-leaders-2/executive-committee/
