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People have been asking what ever happened with the arrest of KCRW's Chris Douridas. Monday's Los Angeles Times reports the DA hasn't decided whether to charge Douridas, pending the results of toxicology tests on the drink that Santa Monica police suspect he gave a 14-year-old girl at Circle Bar on Main Street. Douridas is free on bail of a million dollars after his arrest in January for suspicion of kidnapping and drugging the girl. He emailed the Times' Martin Miller that the allegations are false, and his ex-wife, Mieke Kramer, elaborated for the story.
Though many details of what happened are unknown, law enforcement officials paint a lurid picture of events that led to Douridas' arrest Jan. 6 on suspicion of drugging and trying to kidnap a 14-year-old girl.At least one witness reported seeing Douridas slip a substance into the glass of the teenage girl, who had entered the Circle Bar on Main Street with her cousin's identification, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. Shortly after consuming the drink, the teenager became ill , prompting Douridas to carry her outside the bar and into a nearby car, according to police....
Defenders of Douridas offer a strikingly different version of events that night and note the immense psychological toll the ordeal has placed upon one of local radio's most respected personalities.
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According to Kramer, Douridas was having a drink at the bar late Jan. 5, when he noticed the teenage victim whom he'd met that evening was becoming ill. Seeing no one else moving to assist her, Douridas took it upon himself to help her outside to get fresh air, she said.
"He's the kind of person, unlike so many others, that will step forward and help," said Kramer, who has two children with Douridas. "He's the kind of person who pulls over when he sees someone's car is broken down. This is a case of good intentions misinterpreted and an example of why people don't help each other anymore."The next thing Douridas knew, she said, he was being taken to jail. Even in the first hours of his incarceration, Douridas was unclear why he had been arrested, said Kramer.
Sandra Tsing Loh's blog criticism of KCRW for keeping Douridas on the air after the drugging arrest comes up in the story, with Jennifer Ferro, the station's assistant general manager, saying "The mood around here is completely the same as it has been since this started, and that is we totally stand behind Chris. He's been around thousands of people here, and if there were anything that was amiss we would have known about it and would have acted on it." In 1999, Douridas pleaded no contest and received probation after Florida police found eight Ecstasy pills in his car, the story says.
Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu/Los Angeles Times