O Face Owner Arrested on Suspicion of Sexual Abuse

Matthew Overmyer, the co-owner of Bar Rescue's most infamous episode at O Face, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second-degree sexual abuse and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office (Link to arrest document).

Omaha.com reports that the assault took place at a house, and Overmyer attacked an adult woman who works at O Face at midnight on Tuesday.  He reportedly "used physical force, including choking, to have sex with the victim twice."  The victim called several people after the alleged attack, and one source told investigators that Overmyer tried to re-enter the room after the victim locked him out.

The suspected assault allegedly took place while Overmyers wife (co-owner of the bar) was out of town.

Matthew Overmyer did not speak to investigators and his lawyer said he will plead not guilty and expects the case to be dismissed.  Overmyer faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted and is free after posting a $50,000 bail.

I will keep you updated on the progress of this story and the case as more details emerge.

Also, I know many people think O Face is closed due to multiple review sites listing it as closed, however the bar is still open.  After this, who knows....

UPDATE 10/2016 - Matthew Overmyer plead guilty to the sexual assault charges and was ordered to spend 90 days in jail.  He also has two years of probation following his sentence and will undergo a sex offender treatment program. A no contact order with the victim has been issued for five years.  Matthew Overmyer also will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and pay any restitution to the victim, should she seek counseling. (Link)

UPDATE 3/2017 -  Matthew Overmyer was ordered to pay $4,640 in restitution to the victim, which was a lowered figure. (Link)

UPDATE 4/2017 - Matthew Overmyer went back to jail for failing to register as a sex offender. (Link)

Judge Says O'Face From Bar Rescue Should Be Allowed To Renew Liquor License

You may recall back in May, the Council Bluffs City Council voted against renewing O'Face's liquor license due to their appearance on Bar Rescue and the negative publicity surrounding the bar.  O'Face appealed this decision to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division on July 28th, and on August 11th an Iowa judge ruled that O'Face should be allowed to renew their license.  The judge ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to support the denial of the liquor license, and that Council Bluffs didn't provide the episode of Bar Rescue on which it relied on to deny the license.  The only evidence was owner Matthew Overmyer's testimony, and based on the limited evidence, the judge ruled to reverse the decision of rejecting O'Face's liquor license renewal.

This decision is still not final, as it can be appealed by either party within 30 days.  Also, the Iowa Beverages Division does not have to agree with the judges decision.  If they do not agree with the judges decision, Matthew Overmyer can then appeal to the district court.

Another thing that is interesting is the testimony of Matthew Overmyer at the hearing. The full document is here, but the highlights include:

• He was told during their audition video, which had a staged fight, that the footage would only be shown to Jon Taffer and Spike TV executives.
• When the film crew arrived, they "wanted to show chaos at the bar, including fighting, disorderly conduct, and an empty bar without customers."
• The bar was not open to the public or regular customers during the filming, and Bar Rescue provided the customers for the stress test to complain about the food, drinks, and service.
• Both fights on the episode were done after the Bar Rescue crew suggested they needed more drama.
• He said he told the film crew that he was done with the "shenanigans" and would not cooperate with filming any more staged scenarios.  The crew left saying they would use the footage they had.  
• Matthew was surprised and embarrassed to see the casting video as part of the footage of the actual show.
• O'Face has seen a decline in business since their Bar Rescue episode aired.

It is pretty much things we assume and have heard with other Bar Rescue episodes, however it is interesting that he says they told the crew they were done staging scenes which caused them to leave. 

Would Jon Taffer have walked out on this Bar Rescue if O'Face continued giving the film crew what they wanted?  Or are we to even believe what Matt claimed?  I guess the only people that know for sure were the people involved in the taping of the show.

Bar Rescue - O'Face Bar Update

On tonight's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Council Bluffs, Iowa to try to rescue the O'Face Bar.  This is the second of three Omaha area Bar Rescue's that will air this season.  The episode is called "Punch-Drunk and Trailer-Trashed" and says that Jon tries to help a feuding and dysfunctional family.  If you follow Jon Taffer, Bar Rescue, or Spike TV on social media, you already know they are hyping this up as an episode where Jon Taffer walks out on the bar.  And the hype is real as he does end up walking out on this bar, meaning no name change or anything.

Let's take a look at some information, updates and drama behind the O'Face Bar Rescue makeover and see what made Jon Taffer walk out on them.