TABC finds no controlled substance in bottle reportedly linked to Cypress bar hospitalizations

CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) -- One of the customers at a Cypress bar who drank potentially contaminated liquor fears what might have happened had paramedics not taken her to the hospital.

"I could have ended up dead," the woman, who asked to remain anonymous as she awaited TABC lab results, said.

She said she and other patrons at Bedrock Tavern on Grant Road did two rounds of Jameson shots the night of Oct. 5.

"Bartender handed me my tab, I signed it, I remember all of that. I don't remember getting up out of my chair," she said.

She said the next thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital around 10 hours later on Oct. 6. But she said surveillance video that bar managers reviewed shows her walking to her car, then stumbling around to the back of the bar and sitting down at a picnic table.

"I sat down and within that minute, I just fell flat on my back," she said.

"I was just like a bag of bones. I couldn't move, I couldn't get up," she added.

The TABC confirms several other Bedrock Tavern patrons also went to the hospital the same night.

In a social media post Thursday, Bedrock Tavern confirmed all of them had been served from the same bottle.

In an update from the TABC on Friday evening, it stated that no evidence of a controlled substance was found in the whiskey bottle served to customers at the Bedrock Tavern.

Laboratory results for the remaining bottles submitted for the investigation are pending, the TABC said.

"We reviewed the cameras for that entire shift to see if said bottle had been tampered with or if any customer drinks were contaminated and found nothing out of the ordinary," Bedrock Tavern wrote.

Bedrock Tavern said it tested the bottle in question and an unopened bottle of the same brand. Both tests came back positive, the bar said, but a manager declined to specify what substance the bottles were tested for.

"The bar manager did - went above and beyond to figure out what was going on because we were all just, you know, flabbergasted," the customer, who drank the suspect liquor, said.

At the same time, she expressed concerns about the TABC's handling of its investigation.

A week later, she said she still hasn't heard from anyone at the agency. After releasing limited information on Wednesday, the TABC didn't respond to Eyewitness News' requests for an update on Thursday.

"I don't think that TABC has done their due diligence to protect the community," the customer said.

The manager at another Cypress bar told Eyewitness News the bar tested two Jameson bottles as a precaution, but that both tests came back negative.

Pernod Ricard USA, which makes Jameson, sent Eyewitness News the following statement:

"We are aware of reports in the Houston area regarding an isolated incident and can confirm we have had no reports of any similar issues.

TABC full statement:

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) has received the first laboratory test results for one of the bottles of whiskey removed from Bedrock Tavern following reports of customers falling ill after consuming the product. Laboratory analysis found no evidence of a controlled substance in the tested bottle.

The bottle submitted for testing by TABC is the same bottle from which the business is stated to have served the customers. Laboratory results for the remaining bottles submitted as part of the investigation are pending.
TABC continues to monitor the situation and will provide updates as additional information becomes available.

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