UNC and ECU police investigating alleged drink tampering and reported assaults

Officials at two state universities are investigating allegations of drink tampering that led to physical and sexual assault.

UNC police alerted students on Thursday that they had received a report of an alleged drink-tampering incident from two people that happened on Aug. 26 at 216 E. Rosemary St., the address for the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house.

One of the individuals reported the alleged tampering led to physical assault, according to the alert.

UNC’s Fraternity and Sorority Life Office told The News & Observer that it doesn’t have additional information about the incident.

In Greenville, East Carolina University police received a report on Sept. 13 of drink tampering with two people at the Theta Chi fraternity house.

One of individuals reported the tampering led to sexual assault.

That incident was reported to have happened Aug. 20, two days before classes began for the fall semester. The victim reportedly is known to the alleged perpetrator, according to the school’s crime alert.

This is the second report of drink tampering and sexual assault at the Theta Chi fraternity house in less than a year.

Last November, ECU police warned students of an alleged drink-tampering incident at the house on Oct. 29. Students gathered outside the fraternity house for several protests. A 30-day cease and desist order was issued by Chancellor Philip Rogers restricting the fraternity’s operations.

In October 2020, the Theta Chi fraternity was also investigated for allegations of drink tampering, according to a report by WITN, an eastern North Carolina news station based in Washington, North Carolina.

Rogers released a statement to the campus community saying the school would be taking the recent report seriously, according to a report by The Reflector, Greenville’s newspaper.

ECU students held a protest at the fraternity house late Thursday night in response to the allegations, WITN reported.

Neither university has released additional information about the reports.

What to know about drink tampering

Drink tampering, also known as drink spiking, happens when someone puts alcohol or other drugs into another person’s drink without their knowledge.

This can include putting alcohol into a non-alcoholic beverage, adding extra alcohol, or slipping prescription or illegal drugs into someone’s drink.

In addition to alcohol, drugs including flunitrazepam, or Rohypnol, ketamine, gamma-hydroxybutric acid, or Xyrem, are also used to spike drinks, according to the Office on Women’s Health.

Those drugs are often referred to as “date rape” drugs.

Some of the drugs look like pills or come in liquid or powder form. They also often don’t have an odor, color or taste, making them difficult to detect.

Being safer in social situations

Anyone can be targeted with drink tampering. The most common reasons for it are to alter a person’s behavior, to carry out a sexual or physical assault, a theft or for amusement.

An estimated 11 million women in the United States have been raped while drunk, drugged or high, according to the Office on Women’s Health.

Sexual assault is always the fault of the perpetrator and never the fault of the victim, read the alert from ECU on Tuesday.

Both ECU and UNC included information for students about how they can stay safe while drinking or out at social events:

1. Always pour your own drink and confirm what you are pouring in your cup before doing so

2. Keep your drink with you and out of reach of others

3. Stop drinking if your drink tastes strange

4. Go out with people you know and trust

5. Don’t accept drinks at social gatherings, even if they are pre-packaged

6. Report any suspicious or criminal behavior to campus police as soon as you see it

The UNC Police Department is available 24 hours a day by calling 911 for emergencies or 919-962-8100.

Officers are also available in person at the Public Safety Building at 285 Manning Drive in Chapel Hill.

UNC police also told students in their alert that if they suspect someone has tampered with their drink to consider filing a report through their online reporting system.

Counseling and Psychological Services is available for students at UNC 24 hours a day and students can make appointments by calling 919-966-3658 or by visiting their website.

This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 5:12 PM.

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

919-829-4532

Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.