Duke waits on inquiry results

Police investigate report of assault

DURHAM -- Duke University administrators will wait for Durham police to finish their investigation of a freshman's allegations that she was raped at an off-campus party before doing an inquiry of their own.

Larry Moneta, Duke vice president of student affairs, said he heard about the incident early Sunday. "We're providing direct support to the woman," he said.

Durham police were called to 405 Gattis St. at 3 a.m. Sunday after an 18-year-old reported being raped in a bathroom there.

No charges had been filed late Monday.

Members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., one of whom lives at the Gattis Street address, organized the party that started Saturday night and continued into the early hours of Sunday.

As police investigated the sexual assault allegations Sunday, their inquiry took a different turn.

Neighbors and bystanders reported seeing a duffel bag plummet to the ground from a second-story window.

Police filed a second incident report from the home shared by several Duke students and owned by Arcadia Land Management, which, according to county property records, is an Oklahoma company.

At 11:11 a.m. Sunday, police filed an incident report for three drug violations: possession of marijuana, Oxycontin and cocaine. No corresponding arrest report was available Monday.

Police declined to give details of the accuser's allegations.

As news of the reported rape spread through the blogosphere Monday, many people questioned whether District Attorney Mike Nifong would show the same interest in the investigation as he did the Duke lacrosse case.

"We haven't made any arrests or anything yet," said Maj. L.A. Russ of the Durham Police Department. "He would not get involved this early."

But in the lacrosse case, Nifong assumed control of the investigation, according to police reports, before any charges were filed.

On March 14, an escort service dancer alleged that she was sexually assaulted at a lacrosse team party. Nifong, according to police notes, had assumed control of the investigation by March 24, the day after all but one member of the team was ordered to a Durham police lab to provide DNA samples. The first indictments in the case came April 17.