TOLEDO, Ohio — 11 Investigates has learned that the Peppermint Hippo, a west Toledo strip club, is named in two criminal cases and a civil lawsuit in which two drivers drank excessively and then drove, killing three people.
There is also an investigation into whether the bartenders at the Alexis Road establishment served alcohol to an underage person in a separate case.
The Ohio Investigative Unit confirmed to 11 Investigates that the Toledo Police Department asked its office to figure out where Kenneth Pegler, 55, drank on July 30, when he is accused of killing Nicholas Reinhart, 30, as he rode his bicycle on Alexis Road on July 30.
According to Toledo Municipal Court records, surveillance video from the Peppermint Hippo shows Pegler consuming at least five shots and two beers between midnight and 2:40 a.m. According to a warrant filed in the court, a witness confirmed that Pegler, "was at Bar 145, Wheelin' on the Rocks and the Peppermint Hippo leading up to the fatal accident." The warrant also states video evidence corroborates the witness statement and shows "defendant unable to park in marked lines, stumbling as he walks to his vehicle just minutes before the accident and falling out of his driver seat as he attempts to get into the truck (also just minutes prior to the fatal accident.)"
A Lucas County Grand Jury last week indicted Pegler on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of failure to stop after an accident and one count of operating a vehicle under the influence.
Pegler hit the rear of Reinhart's bicycle and then drove "several yards down the street" with him "lodged underneath" his vehicle, according to a police report.
Another driver passing by struck the edge of the mangled bike while attempting to swerve around the debris. They spotted Reinhart lying in the curb lane and called emergency services.
Reinhart was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.
Pegler has a prior OVI conviction from 2021 and two additional prior lesser-included convictions amended from OVIs, as well as a warrant in Michigan in 2023 for crashing his vehicle into a home and injuring two people, according to a July 10 filing by Assistant Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Jessica Worley.
The Peppermint Hippo is also mentioned in the April 2022 criminal case in which Nicholas Luderman caused a six-vehicle crash on I-75 in Wood County, killing Andrew Jones, 19, of Findlay, and Kassidi Krzykwa, 23, of Kalamazoo, Mich., and seriously injuring several others. He was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Jones' estate filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the Peppermint Hippo and other establishments in April of 2024, claiming their bartenders over-served alcohol to Luderman before he caused the crash. The case is set for a pretrial hearing next February.
11 Investigates has also learned of an additional investigation being conducted by the Ohio Investigative Unit and the Ohio Division of Liquor Control into whether an underage person was served alcohol at the Peppermint Hippo by bartenders.
Toledo City Council member Theresa Morris, who represents District 6 where the Peppermint Hippo operates, said bar owners need to hold their staff accountable.
"A bartender has an important job to make a judgment, not to overserve someone," Morris said. "When bar owners hire bartenders, they have an important job to do, too. Because they're opening themselves up to liability."
11 Investigates asked Peppermint Hippo for comment twice on the Pegler investigation and the establishment declined both times.
In a response to the wrongful death lawsuit from Jones' estate, the establishment denied the claims and said that the crash in which the two victims were killed was outside of its control.
Morris said she is trying to clean up the area of the city where the Peppermint Hippo is.
"Hopefully, places like this, which sound like they are making poor choices, maybe relocate to another place," she said.