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You may have seen a viral Facebook post from three women who said they successfully prevented a man from drugging his female friend at a restaurant Santa Monica. Police have now confirmed the identity of that man. Michael Hsu, 24, has been arrested on charges of intent to commit rape and drugging with the intent to commit a rape, KTLA reports. Santa Monica Police also say that they have viewed surveillance footage of the incident and have also taken the drink as evidence. Hsu is being held on a $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court today, according to ABC News.
The three women—Marla Saltzer, Monica Kenyon and Sonia Ulrich—were all hanging out during happy hour at Fig in Santa Monica on Thursday when they said they spotted a man take out a small vial and put its contents into his female companion's drink while she was in the restroom.
So, after feeling awkward hanging out by the sinks in the bathroom til she was done, I approached. "Hey! Um, this is kind of weird, but, uh, we saw the guy you were with put something in your drink."
"Oh My God." She said.
Shocked, kind of numb, so I babbled "Yeah, my girlfriend said she saw him put something in your drink and we had to say something. Woman to woman...you know. We had to say something. How well do you know that guy?" I was expecting to hear "We just met," but I got:
"He's one of my best friends."
After the the three friends alerted the woman, she sat awkwardly through 40 minutes of the date before police arrived. Because Ulrich, Saltzer and Kenyon were able to tell the restaurant staff what they had seen, they were able to view surveillance footage of the incident. Restaurant staff then called police, who arrested the man and took the glass as evidence. Police also found the man to be in possession of several vials of a clear substance.
