Duke lacrosse accuser charged with attempted murder, arson
Posted: Today at 5:39 a.m. Updated: 4 minutes ago
Durham, N.C. — Durham police arrested Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, late Wednesday after she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, set his clothes on fire in a bathtub and threatened to stab him.
Authorities charged her with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, communicating threats, three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property, identity theft and resisting a public officer.
WATCH VIDEO Crystal Mangum charged with attempted murder Shortly after 11:30 p.m., police received a 911 call about a domestic dispute at 2220 Lincoln St. Authorities said they believe the call came from one of the three children inside the house.
When officers arrived, they found Mangum and her boyfriend, Milton Walker, 33, fighting. According to police documents, Mangum scratched, punched and threw objects at Walker and told him, "I'm going to stab you, (expletive)!"
She then went into a bathroom and set his clothes on fire in the bathtub, police said. Officers called the fire department to put out the flames. No one was injured.
Milton was not charged in the incident, police said. The three children inside the house, ages 3, 9 and 10, were not injured.
Police charged Mangum with identity theft because she gave them a fake name, "Marella Mangum," and age, authorities said. She also resisted the officers who responded to the scene, according to police documents.
Mangum was being held in the Durham County Jail on no bond and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning. She has been ordered to have no contact with Walker.
Mangum is the author of the memoir "Last Dance for Grace." She was a student at North Carolina Central University in 2006 and also worked as an exotic dancer when she performed at the now infamous Duke lacrosse party.
It was there, she claimed, that three white members of the team trapped her inside a bathroom and raped and sexually assaulted her. The three players were indicted on rape and other charges on the basis of her allegations and were eventually exonerated after North Carolina's attorney general dismissed the case
