The neighbor who came to the aid of alleged hate crime victim Charlie Rogers reacts after Lincoln police call the whole thing a hoax.
No matter who's story you believe the night police responded to Charlie Rogers call for help left an emotional rift in the Lincoln community.
None more than for the neighbor who came to the aid of Rogers, naked and allegedly beaten standing at her side door.
July 22nd is a night Linda Rappl remembers all too well.
On the 911 tape, Rappl is recorded telling a dispatcher, "My neighbor just came over and knocked on the door and said her house is on fire, she's not got any clothes on and she's handcuffed."
Dispatcher, "She's handcuffed?"
Linda, "Yes."
Rappl made the 911 call for Charlie Rogers.
"I just felt horrible for her all I could think of was getting a hold of 911 and getting her help."
Now one month later, Rappl can't believe what she and Charlie went through that night may not be real.
"I had anger, I had disappointment, I felt betrayed, I was just devastated, I was just heartsick again to think that something like this may not be true and that I maybe implicated."
Rappl said since finding out it's been an emotional roller coaster, but something she'd do again.
"I'd do exactly the same thing if it was any of my neighbors, at first I questioned my own sense of judgment and I've questioned my faith in humanity here, but I wouldn't change anything I did, I did what I thought was right."
Despite of it all Rappl says she's focusing on the positive.
"I'm going to focus on the neighbor I knew, the Charlie I knew."
She says she'll also forgive her, if the accusations prove to be true.
Rappl says she hasn't talked to Rogers since the morning of July 22, but hopes for her everyone's sake the case gets resolved soon so people can heal and move on.
