3 Quick-Thinking Women May Have Prevented an Attempted Rape, Police Say

Three women are being celebrated online after authorities say they may have stopped an attempted rape while they were dining in a Santa Monica restaurant on May 26. According to their Facebook post, Sonia Ulrich, Marla Saltzer and Monica Kenyon spotted a fellow customer—whom police have identified as Michael Hsu—putting something in his friend’s drink.

“After a few ‘Oh god. What do we do’s, I got up to find [the friend] in the bathroom to tell her,” Ulrich wrote, saying she wanted to “Warn her. Tell her to get up and leave this creep. Make him drink it. Something.”

Ulrich said she nervously told the woman, “Hey! Um, this is kind of weird, but, uh, we saw the guy you were with put something in your drink.” To which the woman responded, in shock, “he’s one of my best friends.”

According to the Facebook post, the women also notified the restaurant’s management and security, who reviewed footage from the security camera and notified police.

Santa Monica police confirmed to The Huffington Post that they arrested Hsu for “intent to commit rape and drugging with the intent to commit rape” and held him on a $1 million bail.

“We appreciate those witnesses came forward,” Santa Monica Police Lieutenant Saul Rodriguez told The Huffington Post. “It could have prevented a serious crime from taking place.”

Ulrich’s account of the night has already been shared more than 107,000 times. Read her post below: