Saturday at the Anchor Bar in downtown Everett. On Friday, the owner was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. (Alan Dennis/Herald)

According to the police, customers in recent years have reported that they were apparently drugged and sexually assaulted.

Everett-According to the police, in the past few years, multiple women and men have reported that they were sexually assaulted by the owner of a famous bar in downtown Everett.

Christian Sayre, 35, who has owned The Anchor Pub since 2014, was arrested on Friday night and imprisoned in Snohomish County Prison to investigate two crimes of second-degree rape and one crime of indecent liberty.

At a press conference on Saturday, Everett police stated that an investigation found the victims. They reported in recent years that they went to a bar on the 1000 block of Hewitt Avenue, “where they only had a few drinks. , But don’t remember what happened. Afterwards... After waking up, the victims thought they had been sexually assaulted."

According to a piece of history on the bar’s website, The Anchor is located in a wedge-shaped building on the westernmost side of Hewitt, just a few feet from the railway line that runs through Everett, where bartenders have been serving drinks since 1907 . In recent years, Anchor has gained fame, becoming one of the most lively and busiest music venues in town, especially for local bands.

According to the press release, in 2020, a lady went to a bar with a friend and only drank a few glasses of wine. She reported that she could not remember most of the night, even though she remembered being in the office with the bar owner and another man. She believed that the two men had sexually assaulted her. She went to the hospital for an examination the next day. The test results confirmed the sexual contact.

According to a 2017 report from the Everett Police Department, in another case, a woman told the police that she had been sexually assaulted by him at her home near Say.

In recent years, after several reports, it is not clear why the police arrested Sale this week.

The woman who spoke to the police in 2017 said that one night she went to a bar with friends in downtown Everett. Purcell is a member of the group. She told the Daily Herald in an interview with the Daily Herald on Saturday that she knew him as a former colleague and friend-she trusted him.

That night, she fell on the pavement outside The Anchor, and the skin on her knees and head was torn.

"I was terrified," she wrote in a statement to the police. "Christian Sayre took me across the road to his house. When we went in, he put a tissue on my head. He took me into the bathroom and wiped it with some ointment to clean it. I dropped the phone and when I went to pick it up At the time, he stopped me. I thought it was because he was afraid that I would fall again."

She reported that the woman left the bathroom, walked to the sofa and started crying. She said in the statement that Sayre sat down next to her and tried to kiss her. She pushed Sayre away, but that didn't stop him from moving forward. She reported that he sexually assaulted her. She wrote that Cel yelled at her when she tried to escape from his home that night. She managed to find her other friends.

The woman's friend Ben Scott said that since the woman confided to him in 2017, he has been trying to draw attention to Xaar's behavior. In an interview with The Herald, Scott said that he posted a warning on Facebook, hoping to draw people's attention.

Scott, a long-term resident of Everett and an employee of another bar in the city center, said that several other victims had contacted him.

In an interview with The Herald, Scott said: "I have many people who contact me privately, begging not to disclose their stories because they are afraid." "This person has an identity. He has power and influence."

According to several sources familiar with the music scene, after Scott posted, Anchor’s music bookings slowed down because of the news that the store owner was accused of sexual assault.

In 2017, Sayre lived less than a block from the bar. Scott said that Sayre’s house “is called the Brotherhood House because its tenants are notorious for bringing girls over to get drunk.”

Scott said: "A few years later, in this active investigation, when the police contacted me, it didn't surprise me to hear it."

Scott expressed frustration that the investigation took so long, but he was relieved that Xaar was arrested.

"When a woman makes an accusation, it becomes her words, not the words of the person she is accusing," Scott said. "That's why many of these women are afraid to come forward."

Scott's friend said: "I want all other women to know that I am standing with them and I believe them." On the other end of the phone, she cried. "I want them to know that we are working hard to make the community safe again."

The main entrance of The Anchor was padlocked on Saturday afternoon, when the bar was usually open. The Instagram and Facebook accounts representing the business appear to have been deleted.

On Saturday, the sexual assault investigation was still ongoing. The police said that detectives believe there are more victims. Anyone with information can call the report hotline of the Everett Police Department at 425-257-8450.

"Daily Herald" plans to follow the progress of the case. If you have an investigation-related story to share, please contact reporter Ellen Dennis at 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen. To talk to us, you can send us an email to newstips@heraldnet.com or call 425-339-3428 to introduce news and inquire about our news. If you want to share your comments, please send a letter to the editor to letter@heraldnet.com or send it via regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, PO Box 930, Everett, WA 98206. More contact information is here.

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