Cypress bar patron says she fell down after drinking potentially contaminated liquor

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 awaits 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.

“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.

It says it tested the bottle in question as well as 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.

We are working closely with the TABC and the bar in question to fully investigate exactly what occurred, and remain committed to the highest standards of safety and transparency.

We will provide an update as more information becomes available.”

For news updates, follow Luke Jones on Facebook, X and Instagram.