Oregon man spiked smoothies for daughter's 12-year-old friends with sedatives, affidavit says

An Oregon man accused of spiking smoothies with sedatives and giving them to his daughter’s pre-teen friends has been charged with multiple felonies, according to court documents reviewed by NBC News.

Michael Meyden, 57, of Lake Oswego, allegedly drugged three of his daughter’s friends while they slept over on the night of Aug. 25, 2023, according to court documents and a probable cause affidavit filed this week in Clackamas County.

The girls, all 12 years old, were hospitalized and tested positive for benzodiazepine, described in the affidavit as a drug typically prescribed for anxiety, with common prescriptions under the names Valium, Xanax and Klonopin. Benzodiazepines are a depressant that produces sedation, sleepiness and a relaxed mood, the affidavit said.

The affidavit, which was written by a Lake Oswego police detective, did not specify why Meyden allegedly served the children spiked smoothies.

Meyden is charged with three felony counts of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, three felony counts of applying a schedule IV controlled substance to the body of a minor and three misdemeanor counts of delivering to a minor a schedule IV controlled substance, court records show.

His attorney, Mark Cogan, said his client turned himself in Tuesday to the Clackamas County Jail following a grand jury indictment. He was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. Bail was issued at $50,000, which Meyden has posted, Cogan said.

“Mr. Meyden is presumed innocent,” Cogan said by phone Friday afternoon. “We have not seen the evidence. The indictment was issued by a grand jury behind closed doors where no judge, no defense attorney, was allowed. And we hope that people will reserve judgment until all the facts are known.”

The night of the sleepover, Meyden was highly involved in the girls’ activities, and took them to get their nails done and picked up pizza for dinner, according to the affidavit.

The girls spent most of their time in the basement, where they were having a “spa night,” the affidavit said.

Before the four girls went to bed, Meyden made them smoothies. The girls, including Meyden’s daughter, were all served two smoothies each in milkshake-style glasses, the affidavit said.

“Mr. Meyden specifically gave each of the girls specific colored reusable straws to distinguish their own drink. Mr. Meyden was adamant that the girls drink out of their own cups,” the affidavit said.

One girl drank two cups, and another girl drank one cup and a third said she did not like the smoothies and barely drank any at all. It was unclear how many smoothies Meyden’s daughter drank, but one girl told police it appeared to be a significant amount, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, two girls slept on a pull-out couch in the basement, while two others slept in a bedroom in the basement. The third girl, who didn’t drink much of the smoothie, reported that Meyden came downstairs more than once. She had been sleeping close to another girl and said Meyden tried to physically separate the two, the document stated. 

After Meyden went back upstairs, the third girl, frightened for her friend who had been sleeping heavily, again pulled close to her, the affidavit said.

Meyden returned a second time and again tried to separate the girls from each other. He also put his finger underneath the nose of the girl who pretended to be sleeping “as if to see if she was soundly asleep, he then waved his hand in front of her face,” she told police, according to the affidavit.

Meyden then went outside through a sliding glass door and the girl frantically began calling and texting her parents and friends to pick her up. 

“Mom please pick me up and say I had a family emergency. I don’t feel safe. I might not respond but please come get me,” one of the texts said, according to the affidavit. “Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!!”

The girl was eventually able to reach a family friend, who picked her up and took her to her home. Eventually two parents went to Mayden’s home to get the other two girls, but Meyden was reluctant to let them leave, the affidavit said. 

A girl who told police she drank two smoothies said she began to feel woozy, hot and clumsy, shortly after finishing the second smoothie. She said she “blacked out” and slipped into a “thick, deep sleep” she never experienced before, the affidavit said.

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Donna Mendell contributed.