August 20th, 2016 Charlotte, NC
WAXHAW -- Realtors in the Charlotte area are on alert after getting word a home builder's sales rep may have been poisoned with the date rape drug while showing a model home in Union County.
Maren Brisson Kuester with the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association says for many realtors who work alone, safety is always top of mind.
"100 percent, you have to cautious, I started this business at 23 and I was preached to from the very beginning about being safe."
They received an email from CalAtlantic Homes describing the incident and warning associates. According to the email, on August 20th, the sales rep was with a client when she found a man standing near her desk. It was the second time he'd been to the home, both times he left quickly when he saw she wasn't alone. After drinking from the water bottle that was on her desk, she began to feel ill and called 911.
A report was filed with Union County Sheriffs office five days later but lists few details.
The email CalAtlantic homes says a toxicology screen of the water bottle found traces of a date rape drug.
"As soon as we found out about this we sent out a notice from all social media outlets, not just from the association level but all the different brokerage firms in town started communicating as well," said Kuester.
In their line of work, realtors are in vulnerable situations every day.
"We do our open houses right in the middle of the day, with another person there with us and I always, always, always, tell people where I'm going."
"A realtor sometimes they are in a house showing a house and they're by themselves so its very important they take all their security measure to stay safe,” said CMPD Officer Johnathan Frisk with the Crime Prevention Division.
Now realtors have another worry.
"Don't leave your water bottle laying around anywhere."
Charlotte, NC News Courtesy of Time Warner Cable
By Vanessa Leon
Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 05:00 PM EDT