OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Two days before Jackson Mahomes is scheduled to return to a Johnson County courtroom, the woman making some of the claims against him says she wouldn’t have called the police the night of the alleged assault.
During an interview with FOX4’s Malik Jackson, Aspen Vaughn, the owner of Aspen Restaurant & Lounge, describes the months since the Feb. 25 incident as “exhausting,” and wants to “just go back to normal.”
“What happened that evening we don’t condone it – it wasn’t OK, but in the same aspect we have our lives to live and to go on, and I feel like a lot of people just made assumptions and came after us,” Vaughn said.
Mahomes was charged in May by the Johnson County District Attorney with three felony counts of aggravated sexual battery and one misdemeanor count. He pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
Vaughn said she hoped everything associated with the case would blow over, but that hasn’t happened.
Instead, she said people have targeted her and the restaurant. Aspen has also lost up to 75% of its business since the Johnson County District Attorney charged Jackson Mahomes, she said.
“We’ve had gas pipes cut. We’ve had the AC pipes cut from the outside, you know – you name it – it’s pretty much happened,” Vaughn said.
According to court documents, police responded to Aspens Restaurant on Feb. 25 after a man reported Jackson Mahomes shoved his son, who works at the restaurant.
The allegations against Mahomes became more serious when police interviewed the restaurant’s owner that evening.
Court documents show Aspen’s owner told investigators she was in the restaurant’s office with Mahomes. She claimed Mahomes grabbed her by the throat, forced her head back and kissed her three different times according to the affidavit.
She told investigators she did not consent to any of the contact.
At one point, the owner pushed Jackson Mahomes away from her. The court document shows he then told her not to tell anyone what happened.
Now, months later, Aspen’s owner said she believes the situation has been blown out of proportion. When asked if she would have called the police herself that evening, she added the following:
“No I would not,” Vaughn said.
“I don’t think it was necessary,” said Jennifer Thomas, the manager at Aspen’s the night of the incident.
The attorney representing Mahomes released the following statement.
“I have not viewed the entirety of the interview secured by Fox 4. As I stated before, when this cause first caught media attention, ‘Every interaction between people needs to be placed in the proper context,’ for that reason, until I have seen this interview in its entirety, I will withhold further comment. Until all the facts are known any further comment in the media could potentially jeopardize Jackson’s chance at a fair trial.”
Brandan Davies of Roth Davies, LLC.
The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case, or whether the restaurant owner’s new comments would have any impact on the case against Mahomes.