Topless dancer case gains a suspect

A state Commission of Corrections investigator was arrested Friday in connection with a recent bachelor party during which an Albany police officer has been charged with raping an 18-year-old topless dancer, authorities said. Keith J. Zobel, 31, who is married and lives in Altamont, was charged with two counts of unlawfully dealing with a child. Police say Zobel supplied three teenage dancers with alcohol at last Saturday`s bachelor party inside Doc McCutchen`s bar on Broadway. He also was charged with a second count because two of the girls danced topless even though they are under 18. Zobel hired the dancers for the party, police said. Internal affairs detectives from Albany arrested Zobel late Friday afternoon and he was released after being issued tickets ordering him to appear in City Court today the charges. Zobel is the second person this week to be arrested as part of an intensive internal affairs investigation that began last Sunday when an 18-year-old Watervliet woman called police and claimed she had been raped at the private party. His arrest came about seven hours after 29-year-old James Wood, a city cop who lives in Colonie, appeared briefly in City Court on a rape charge while accompanied by his parents and fiancee, Melissa A. Murray. Detectives have accused Wood of raping the girl during his bachelor party. Wood`s attorney, Stephen Coffey, on Friday lashed out at the alleged victim and accused her of making up the story to fuel a lawsuit for money. "He did not have any sexual act," Coffey said. "When this thing is over, she`s going to be sued." Coffey contends his client was highly intoxicated and incapable of raping anyone that night. He also claims that about 20 men attended the party and sat in a circle around Wood and his best man while the alleged victim performed a special dance for Wood. It was during that performance at the end of the hourlong show that the woman claims she was sexually attacked. On Tuesday, Wood was suspended from his job and charged with first-degree rape. He was released after posting $25,000 bail. Coffey said that Wood and Murray, who live together, still plan to go ahead with their scheduled wedding ceremony a week from today. Meanwhile, police said they are considering criminal charges against Wood`s best man, Michael Barton, who is a counselor at Brookwood Residential Center, a state-run secure juvenile detention facility in Columbia County. Earlier this week, Barton took a leave of absence from his job while the investigation is pending, officials with the state Office of Children and Family Services confirmed Friday. The dancer making the accusations against Wood has also accused Barton of pinning her down during the alleged attack. Authorities said they are having difficulty confirming some of her allegations because they contend people who attended the private party, including several law enforcement officers, have not been cooperative in the investigation. Wood is a former Albany County sheriff`s deputy and correction officer who joined the city force in January. Zobel also has a law enforcement background. He is currently enrolled in a part-time police academy, seeking to be reinstated as a part-time police officer in the village of Altamont, where he once worked. Altamont Village police Commissioner Robert Coleman on Friday said he would not comment or make a decision about Zobel`s employment status until he had seen the charges. A Commission of Corrections spokesman said the agency will wait for Zobel`s criminal case to develop before making any decision about his employment status.