Man Accused of Giving Woman ‘Date Rape’ Drug Is Arraigned

A Marina del Rey man pleaded not guilty in Culver City Municipal Court on Friday to charges that he raped and kidnapped a woman to whom he allegedly gave the “date rape” drug Rohypnol.

George “Gino” Spitzer, 40, is being held on $2-million bail in connection with a July 9 incident involving a 35-year-old Los Angeles-area woman.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Noel Lainer said Spitzer and the woman went to the World Cafe in Santa Monica, where he drugged her drink.

“The next thing she remembered was waking up the next morning nude in Spitzer’s bed,” Lanier said.

The woman filed a complaint July 10. Deputies armed with a search warrant went to Spitzer’s apartment, where they arrested him and confiscated several boxes of Rohypnol, a drug easily available in Tijuana.

“They found 20 videotapes sitting there like a library,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Grodin. “Each one has a different woman and him, having sex. . . . The women appear to be drugged.”

At the arraignment, Grodin said Spitzer’s twin brother, Julian, protested that the women had knowingly taken the drug. Grodin said he was not sure whether Julian Spitzer was in the video, because he and his brother are identical twins.

Detectives urge other possible victims to call Detective Valerie Aguilar at (310) 671-7531.