Drugging accusations multiply

The count has grown to 30 women who have contacted Spokane Police saying they believe they were drugged while having drinks with a property manager charged earlier this month with second-degree rape.

Arlin R. Jordin, who 13 years ago was featured as an eligible bachelor in Spokane Woman magazine, was arrested Dec. 3 after a woman told police that she had a couple of drinks with Jordin after answering his advertisement for an apartment.

The next day, the 34-year-old woman said, she woke up naked in Jordin’s bed and she was sick and disoriented.

A friend took the woman to Holy Family Hospital on Nov. 24 for a rape examination and a medical technician found Benzodiazepine in her system, which is a class of drug commonly used in date rapes, according to court records. A search of Jordin’s home found several prescription drugs, including Temazepam, a Benzodiazepine-based medication, the records show.

Jordin, 57, told investigators that he had consensual sex with the woman before he was arrested, according to court records.

Reached at home Monday, Jordin said: “I’m sorry, but I just cannot make any comments.”

But in a May 1991 interview with Spokane Woman, Jordin, who studied pre-law at the University of Idaho and finance at Eastern Washington University, said he values a woman with “intellect, mental health, consideration, loyalty and understanding …”

His ideal romance: “To feel comfortable enough to have my partner be my most trusted and loyal friend. My big goal is happiness and I’m old fashioned when it comes to romance.”

Detective Jan Pogachar said Friday that 10 women called to report contacts with Jordin similar to those described by the 34-year-old woman. A couple claimed they had been raped while others said they left before anything sexual occurred, she said.

On Monday, Pogachar said the reports had grown to 30. In each case, the women say something happened after having drinks with Jordin.

“There are more allegations of rape,” she said. “Some are old, some are new.”

Washington has a three-year statute of limitation for rape, she said. That means many of the old reports can’t be prosecuted.

All 30 reports will be included in the information provided to Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Ed Hay, who will decide whether to file formal rape charges against Jordin, Pogachar said.

“When I come back from vacation (in a week), I’ll review everything with my sergeant. And we’ll decide what cases should be pursued,” she said.

Kim Bebo, general manager of the Satellite Diner, said that she was not surprised to hear that 30 women had made reports about Jordin drugging them.

“We had incidents with him, probably four years ago,” Bebo said. “When he was in there, a woman always complained of feeling dizzy or crazy. I had been saving glasses because the detectives said there was nothing we could do without proving it.”

In one case, a woman was sitting next to Jordin and had about two sips from her drink in about 10 minutes before feeling ill, Bebo said.

“She called me a couple hours later and said she didn’t know what was wrong,” Bebo said. “I told the bartenders to take the glass and keep it but they didn’t.”

After that, Jordin was informed that he was no longer welcome at the bar, she said.

“He came in again and I told him, ‘You are absolutely not welcome here.’ I told him, ‘You know why,’ ” Bebo said.

The woman from that incident worked as a bartender at nearby Mootsy’s, said owner Rick Turner, who said he has been friends with Jordin since high school.

“She came staggering in here from the Satellite. She said, ‘My god. I think I’ve been drugged. I feel so strange,’ ” Turner said. “I go call the cops and bam, they were here within five minutes.”

Turner walked to the Satellite and talked with the officers because he couldn’t believe Jordin, his friend, was the suspect. “They said, ‘Yes. This is right. We know his M.O.’ The police knew about it then,” Turner said.

A few days later, Jordin arrived at Mootsy’s with another woman, and Turner confronted him about the allegations.

“He said, ‘Rick we’ve been friends for years. You know I wouldn’t do that,’ ” Turner recalled. “I just said, ‘Well, that’s not the point, Arlin. People are accusing you of this. That has to be obvious why I can’t let you in here.’ He hasn’t been in here since.”

Pogachar said last week that Jordin had previously been investigated for a similar set of circumstances, but he was never charged.

Jordin has no criminal record, except for some driving violations that date to the 1970s, police spokesman Dick Cottam said last week.

When Jordin was charged, Satellite co-owner Kimberly Dunham said she contacted everybody she knew who had contact with him and encouraged them to call police. She praised the 34-year-old woman for pressing charges.

“That one girl is paving the way for the other girls. She’s like a hero,” Dunham said. “Her courage is huge.”