Sex assault case tossed, bartender suing his accusers
A Marine Corps veteran who was accused two years ago of drugging and sexually assaulting two women after he served them drinks at Viva Tacoland, has filed a civil countersuit against his accusers after the criminal charges were dismissed.
Dillonger Hackett, then 30, was a bartender at the establishment near the historic Pearl complex. The women accused him of spiking their drinks and sexually assaulting them in a nearby hotel room on March 25, 2018.
Two years later, a special prosecutor, Brian T. Powers, has rejected the charges for lack of evidence. Hackett spent 90 days in jail after his arrest, but the case never went to a grand jury.
“The case was rejected because at this time there is not enough to proceed forward with an indictment,” Powers said via email. “These cases are incredibly difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Joe D. Gonzales and Christian Henricksen represented Hackett before
Gonzales was elected district attorney in 2018 and Henricksen became one of his division chiefs. Because of that, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office was recused, and Powers appointed.
The women, who are now married to each other, filed a lawsuit against Hackett, Tacoland and its owner, James Christopher Erck, months before Powers dropped the criminal case Oct. 2 for lack of evidence, court records indicate.
The restaurant has since closed.
The women are seeking monetary damages of no less than $200,000 and no more than $1 million, according to their suit. Their attorney, Clint Glenny, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Hackett’s attorneys, Angela Tabares and Cesar Ornelas, praised the special prosecutor’s decision and said the women were lying because tests
found no drugs in their system.
Ornelas said whatever occurred in the hotel room was consensual, but the accusation ruined the reputation of a decorated Marine combat veteran who grew up in San Antonio.
“His name was dragged through the mud in San Antonio, and his liberty was physically restricted,” Tabares said.
According to an arrest affidavit released at the time, Hackett approached the two women near the end of his shift.
The women told police that before they left Tacoland, they blacked out. They woke up the next morning in their hotel room, the affidavit states, and could only recall bits and pieces of what occurred that night.
The document states that one of the women saw a naked Hackett on top of her, and the other saw him taking a shower. Investigators said one of the victims struggled in a brief period of consciousness to awaken the other woman before she passed out again.
Both women told authorities that when they awoke, they had the feeling that they had been sexually assaulted and went to an area hospital for an examination. They said Hackett contacted one of them that morning because he had left his watch in their room, but by then they had called police and left it for officers to collect.
They told police they thought Hackett put something in their drinks because he was the one who served them that night.
Tabares disputes their account, stating that video exists of the three of them together outside the hotel.
“The footage shows the three of them acting comfortable, both girls hugging him,” she said. “They aren’t stumbling over each other. They all look sober.”
Tabares said Hackett was finally released from jail because the criminal code requires indictments in such a case to be issued within 90 days. He had to wear an ankle monitor until his case was dismissed.
Because of the lengthy jail stay, Hackett failed all of his college classes, lost VA benefits and the opportunity to buy a house, Tabares said.
On Oct. 7, five days after his criminal case was dismissed, Hackett filed a counterclaim for malicious prosecution against the women. Hackett claims his reputation was tarnished, he was forced to pay legal fees, suffered great emotional and mental distress and lost educational and employment opportunities.
He is seeking monetary damages of no less than $200,000 and no more than $1 million, according to the lawsuit.