Duke Rape Cop Involved in Racial Assault?

July 23, 2006 — -- A cook at a sports bar says racial insults were hurled in both directions in the minutes leading up to an altercation that has sparked a criminal investigation into several members of the Durham, N.C., Police Department, including the lead detective in a rape investigation involving Duke University lacrosse players.

Rene Dennis Thomas, a cook at Blinco's Sports Bar and Restaurant in Raleigh, N.C., said the incident was a misunderstanding that turned into an assault. He offered his account to ABC News' Law & Justice Unit Sunday night.

Neither the Durham Police Department spokeswoman nor the Raleigh Police Department spokesman immediately returned calls seeking comment on Thomas's account, and a police officer allegedly involved declined to comment.

Earlier, the Durham spokeswoman declined to name the police under internal investigation in the incident. But she confirmed to ABC News that two cops investigating the Duke rape case, including the lead detective, were placed on administrative duty on Friday, the day after the incident was reported to Raleigh police.

Three white Duke lacrosse players were charged last spring with rape and kidnapping for an alleged attack on an exotic dancer in which racial slurs were said to have been hurled at the woman, an African American. All three men have vigorously declared their innocence, in and outside of court.''

The Raleigh police emphasized that no charges had yet been filed.

Thomas said he stepped out the back door of the restaurant Thursday night and watched a black Nissan pickup screech out of the parking lot, and that he yelled "You go!'' and "Woo-hoo!" in support, but that it was misunderstood by the suspects -- five or six men later identified to him by his manager as Durham police officers and regulars at the bar.

"F--- you, n-----!" Thomas said the initial perpetrator responded.

"F--- you, cracker!'' Thomas said he replied.

The car stopped, he said, and the man who allegedly screamed the epithet got out. Thomas said the man walked over to him, poked him on the shoulder with his finger, and said, "You don't know what you're getting into, boy."