Did city boats carry strippers to mayor?

DETROIT, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A lawyer for the family of a stripper killed by gunfire says Detroit city boats may have brought strippers to a rumored party at the former mayor's mansion.

Dozens of tipsters have alleged city boats transported partygoers and exotic dancers to the never-proved party at the mayor's official residence, the riverfront Manoogian Mansion, Gary Hermanson, lawyer for the family of Tamara "Strawberry" Greene, wrote in a U.S. District Court filing.

Greene, 27, was killed in an unsolved drive-by shooting April 30, 2003, some six months after she allegedly danced at the claimed wild party, where she was also allegedly assaulted by the mayor's wife, Carlita.

The Detroit police sergeant who was supposedly dispatched to the rumored party claims the party never happened.

"I never ever responded to any sort of party at the Manoogian Mansion," Shawn Gargalino, now a Detroit police narcotics lieutenant, told the Detroit Free Press.

The city has failed to turn over the boat logs and other city documents -- a failure that merits the city being forced to pay a "substantial" sanction, Hermanson wrote in his filing cited by The Detroit News.

The boat rumor is the latest allegation in a long-running lawsuit filed by Greene's family accusing Detroit and former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of sabotaging an investigation into Greene's death to keep her killers from being brought to justice.

Kilpatrick resigned Sept. 18, 2008, after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in an unrelated matter.