Durham Police Seek Leads In Alleged Sexual Assault Off-Campus
Woman alleges incident occurred in house occupied by members of Duke men's lacrosse team
Durham police investigators are asking for information about a report of a sexual assault late March 13 or early March 14 at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
A female told officers that she was a dancer who had been hired to perform with a co-worker for a party at the house during the evening of March 13. While at the party, the victim told officers she was held against her will in a bathroom, where she was raped and sodomized. She was robbed of her cell phone and cash before she fled from the house.
Investigators interviewed the woman and developed probable cause for a search warrant, which was executed at the house on March 16. At that time, the three residents of the house, who were all DukeUniversity lacrosse captains, volunteered to come to Durham Police Substation 2 for interviews. When the interviews were completed, the three men agreed to go to DukeUniversityMedicalCenter, where they voluntarily agreed to provide suspect test kits.
Durham police investigators later spoke with the Duke lacrosse coach and asked him to set up a meeting with the players and investigators on Wednesday, March 22, at which time the players were going to voluntarily answer questions and possibly submit to identification procedures.
A few hours before the meeting was scheduled to take place, investigators received a call from an attorney who told them that the players would not be attending the meeting and that the players were represented by legal counsel. The District Attorney's Office then obtained a non-testimonial order from a judge that required 46 members of the lacrosse team to provide DNA samples. The players provided the samples on Thursday, March 23 at the Police Department's Forensic Services Unit on Broadway Street.
At this time investigators are waiting for the DNA results to come back from the State Bureau of Investigation. The case remains an open, active case. No charges have been filed.
Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator B.W. Himan at 560-4582, ext. 229, Sgt. M.D. Gottlieb at 560-4582, ext. 228 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.