TABC opens probe in wake of assault claim

The Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission has opened an investigation into three downtown San Marcos bars a woman visited last month before she was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 35-year-old man she doesn’t remember leaving the area with.

Chris Porter, spokesman for the TABC, said his agency is investigating Chimy’s, Vodka Street and Green Parrot. “An investigation does not imply any wrongdoing on the part of the bars; TABC is required to investigate any report of assaults taking place in or in connection to a TABC-licensed business,” he said. “The investigation will seek to determine if any actions on the part of the bars played a role in the alleged assault. We’ll be working with San Marcos Police to identify any relevant witnesses or evidence as part of both agencies’ investigation.”

John Tate McFarland, who lives at 1816 Pearce Court, has been charged in the sexual assault, and police said on March 5 they believed he may have committed other, similar crimes. However, three days after that, no additional victims had come forward, a City Hall spokesperson said, citing Assistant Police Chief Brandon Winkenwerder. Police have not said why they think there may be additional victims.

As the probe widens, additional details have come to light about McFarland, who was arrested in July 2016 for indecent exposure, a case police say involved him exposing himself while looking in a woman’s window at the Capstone Cottages. He was released hours after that arrest on a $2,000 bond but has not yet gone to trial. Online Hays County records indicate the case is scheduled to go to jury trial in Hays County Court at Law #1 on June 3.

McFarland was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma in the Spring of 2016 and that August, was awarded an MBA from the Mc-Coy College of Business at Texas State University. His LinkedIn profile says he is advocacy director for San Marcos Helping Hands from November 2016 through the present, maintaining “the first community-based Peer Support Network in Hays County,” and that he develops “connections with various local and regional resources.”

The same profile says he served as project manager for Cone Bioproducts from November 2016 through June 2018, as a sales associate for Gander Mountain in Round Rock from August 2013 through June 2014; also, that he was deemed “consistently one of Austin’s top performing drivers in the UberLUX and UberSelect categories” from May 2015 through May 2016.

The sexual assault he is accused of happened in the early morning hours of Feb. 21. The victim had been downtown with friends the night before and told detectives that she was ready to go home after not being able to find her friends at Green Parrot, so she went looking for her car. According to the affidavit of probable cause for McFarland’s arrest, the woman “does not recall finding (her car) and the next thing she remembers was being in an unknown male’s home” and that he had sex with her at least twice against her will. The case came to police attention when she used McFarland’s phone to call her mother because she said he refused to take her home or let her call a ride-share.

After he realized she had called her mother, he took her home; however the affidavit does not address how he knew where she lived, but it does say that she was “scared” because of that fact.

The woman underwent a Sexual Assault Forensics Exam at Central Texas Medical Center but the results, if known, have not been made public.

Members of the public with any information are urged to contact Detective Sandra Spriegel, 512-753-2369 or sspriegel@sanmarcostx.gov.