Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Woman testifies she fears drink was spiked

Ex-restaurate­ur’s lawyer: She was just hung over

- Bruce Vielmetti

PORT WASHINGTON – Prosecutor­s worry that a former Cedarburg restaurant operator may have spiked the drinks of more than 20 women over 10 years but will now focus on trying to convict him of doing it one time in 2014.

Jacob Banas, 39, ran the August Weber Haus, a fondue restaurant and bar on Cedarburg’s historic Washington Avenue that his parents owned. He was charged in 2018 with “administer­ing a dangerous or stupefying drug,” a felony related to one woman’s encounter with him in April 2014.

If convicted, Banas faces up to 71⁄2years in prison and five more on extended supervisio­n.

Several women had complained that after accepting drinks from Banas, they had no recollecti­on of the rest of their evening, felt sick and disoriente­d unlike being drunk, threw up, were told by others they engaged in strange behaviors or woke up in Banas’ apartment, some having had sex with him, some unsure if they had or not.

In his opening statement to jurors Monday, Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said he would use those women’s stories to show a pattern of behavior that will convince them Banas altered the drink involved in this case.

Banas, Gerol said, “gained some perverse satisfacti­on in interferin­g in their lives in this manner.”

He said jurors will also hear from a French scientist who studies hair samples for traces of drugs.

Defense attorney Brett Nistler said there’s a much simpler explanatio­n. The woman had been taking cold medicines for weeks, he said. On that night, she had too much to drink on top of them.

“She got drunk, got sick, and had a hangover,” Nistler said. “That’s it.”

She only went to police, Nistler said, after being told by another friend that Banas may have drugged her.

Nistler said the state’s French expert won’t be able to say the hair evidence didn’t result from the repeated use of the cold medication­s, rather than a single high dose from Banas.

Gerol had previously described the expert as “the world’s foremost researcher into forensic evidence of drug-facilitate­d sexual assault.”

In the spring of 2014, six women all complained to Cedarburg police that they suspected their drinks had been spiked at Banas’ restaurant. Police investigat­ed, and news media reported details about the allegation­s based on search warrant affidavits, but no charges were filed.

Meanwhile, residents began to stew about the inaction. In 2016 they formed the Committee for a Safe Cedarburg and tried to get the city to shut down August Weber Haus. They protested outside the business during the city’s popular Winter Festival.

Banas then filed a defamation lawsuit against some of his accusers. The case was first filed in Milwaukee County in 2016, then refiled in Ozaukee County in 2017. It remains pending, on hold until after the criminal trial.

In fall 2017, the city revoked Banas’ liquor license for the restaurant, citing its sporadic business hours.

The first witness, 39-year-old Stephanie Hayes of Mequon, described having dinner and drinks with a friend at Banas’ business. Together, over about four hours, they had two bottles of wine, a vodka-and-Redbull and some Bailey’s, as well as shots of what she thought was whiskey after Banas brought them to their table unrequeste­d.

She described waking up the next day with a terrible headache and ringing in her ears. She said she learned from her friend and husband that she had vomited, been confused and unable to answer questions.

Hayes, who is the executive director of the Cedarburg Cultural Center blocks away from the restaurant, had started that job recently, she said, so she “sucked it up” and went to work but realized she could not function and left by noon. Hayes said she and her friend were at the restaurant to celebrate her new job.

“I’m familiar with a hangover,” she testified. “This was not a hangover.”

A couple of nights later, she said, she was describing her experience to a different friend who then told her she might be a victim of Banas. She said she then Googled Banas’ name and called police.

Her husband, Drew Hayes, testified that when the friend brought his wife home, she was mumbling on the floor. He said her condition was unlike any of the times he’d seen her after drinking before.

On cross-examinatio­n, Nistler suggested the witness clearly just thought his wife was drunk, or he would have called 911. The husband insisted drugging had crossed his mind but was confused because his wife’s condition didn’t conform with the events the friend had described.

The trial is scheduled to last all week.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHears­ay.

 ?? MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL ?? Jacob Banas enters an Ozaukee County Court in Port Washington on Monday. Banas was charged last year with “administer­ing a dangerous or stupefying drug” related to a woman’s encounter with him in April 2014.
MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL Jacob Banas enters an Ozaukee County Court in Port Washington on Monday. Banas was charged last year with “administer­ing a dangerous or stupefying drug” related to a woman’s encounter with him in April 2014.

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