Les Bourgeois Vineyard still closed to student outings
The vineyard has agreed to comply with police to clear up incidents.
Published Sept. 29, 2009
After sexual assault reports and senior Brian Lindsey being run over by a bus due to irresponsible alcohol use, Les Bourgeois Vineyard canceled multiple scheduled events.
Les Bourgeois' problems started the night of Sept. 2 during a party the winery hosted for a group of college students. A sexual assault occurred that night but was not reported until Sept. 13, said Major Tom Reddin of the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
"On the 17th there was another account of sexual assault that occurred," Reddin said. "That one was reported to us on the 18th."
Les Bourgeois Vineyard is deferring all questions to the authorities at this point in the investigation, but they did release a short statement expressing their concern about the situation.
"We are deeply troubled by the alleged incidents and very concerned for the safety of our patrons," Les Bourgeois Vineyard spokeswoman Rachel Mills said in the statement. "While we wait for all the facts to emerge, we have suspended all hosting of large after-hour events."
Sept. 17, when the sexual assault happened, was also the night senior Brian Lindsey was struck by a bus as it was leaving the winery, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Chris Harris said in an interview after the accident.
Harris said as the bus was still in the parking lot of Les Bourgeois, Lindsey stepped in front of the bus to stop it. Lindsey fell underneath the bus and was run over, and the bus stopped on top of him for about 15 seconds before it backed off. Harris also said on the night of the accident, the driver, Thomas Hoehn, had no issue with alcohol or drugs.
"There will be no charges on the driver whatsoever," Harris said. "The bus driver had a loaded bus. There was just no way he could have avoided what had happened."
The severity of the incidents and their close proximity to each other has raised eyebrows of police officers and school officials with all three events involving students. Director of Student Life Mark Lucas expressed his concern in light of the sexual assaults.
"It's tragic that students put themselves in situations that are risky because of alcohol," Lucas said. "Our students make decisions every day that have consequences that have a certain risk associated with them."
In the wake of the two assaults and the bus accident, Les Bourgeois Vineyard is working hand in hand with the authorities to sort things out. The news release put out by the winery stated they are cooperating with the authorities and are reviewing the steps they can take to increase the safety of their patrons.
"We've been in contact with the winery," Reddin said. "We've discussed our concerns about these incidents but we're pleased to hear their concerns are the same as ours."
Authorities are investigating the assaults and the bus accident.
Boone County Sheriff's Office is covering the sexual assaults and the Missouri State Highway Patrol is handling the bus incident. At the time of the interview, Reddin didn't know exactly what charges were being applied to the Sexual Offense Statutes. The Criminal Statutes Chapter 566 has more than 40 sections and contains many different criminal charges that can be used.
"We've got some training to do to our students," Lucas said. "You cannot have a person give consent when they are not of sound mind. We've clearly got to do a better job of educating people of that."