DENVER — A Denver woman is seeking justice after she said she was roofied at a downtown Denver bar on New Year's Eve.
Mia Mainville is claiming law enforcement officials are not taking her concerns seriously and would not allow her to file a police report.
It started out as a fun night with friends on New Year's Eve, but it quickly turned into a scary situation, she said.
"I started feeling weird and went into the bathroom and, according to my friend, I was in there for 10 minutes and they come in and I’m on the floor. They’re trying to get me up and I’m unresponsive, incoherent. I told them as best I could that I felt like I had been drugged," Mainville said.
She was rushed to a nearby hospital by ambulance.
"I remember telling the doctor I was sure I had been drugged and if I could get tested and she said 'no,'" Mainville added.
Mainville said she had around four drinks throughout the course of the night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
"Enough to be a little inebriated — nothing like that level of intoxication," she said.
Mia said the hospital told her they did not have the ability to test her for those drugs and encouraged her to file a police report.
"I was upset and frustrated but trying to recover from the drugs was hard and I didn’t feel like I could make an argument. At the moment, being exhausted I was like 'OK, write it down in the paperwork for me and I'll go home,'" she said.
The paperwork from the hospital's doctor read:
You were seen in the ER with concern for alcohol intoxication. You are concerned as well about possible poisoning of your beverage. Unfortunately we were not able to do testing for drugs commonly used for this. We discussed my advise to fill a police report given your concern.
Mia said when she got out of the hospital, she went to the Denver Police Department on Monday to file a report, but was turned away.
"The officer asked if I had been assaulted, and I said 'No, fortunately, my friend was with me the whole time and I wasn’t unaccounted for.' He said there wasn’t a reason and that they wouldn’t take a report," she said. "I think that’s insane — if myself and 15 other girls went into the police station to say we’ve been drugged and they're not taking reports, they're not seeing this is a major problem at this place, at this time in this area, they're missing a lot of opportunity to get answers and bring justice."
Denver7 reached out to DPD for a statement. They responded with this:
The Denver Police Department wishes to reengage with the victim. If she is willing, will you please let her know that she can call to speak with a detective.
We asked DPD for clarification on what the protocol is if someone wants to report they were drugged but no assault took place.
DPD said generally, a case would be opened if the victim came to them. We then pushed DPD, asking again why one wasn't opened in Mia's case. They would only say that they're encouraging Mia to reach out to them again.
"Anybody when they’re hurt in that way, even if it's not 'hurt enough' to the standard of the police, it's important for them to feel supported and validated and get the justice they feel they deserve," Mia said, adding that she wants to be a voice for others.
"There are so many other woman who are afraid or timid and I want them to reach out to me so I can support them on a personal level and see what can we all do together to help this from happening to women and others in the future and support those who it has already happened to," she said.