The police searched a Queens office of City Councilman Dennis P. Gallagher on Monday after a woman accused him of raping her there, his lawyer and a law enforcement official said.
Mr. Gallagher could not be reached for comment yesterday. But his lawyer, Stephen R. Mahler, said his client denied the accusation.
“I’m not prepared to give any contrary version except to say he denies any wrongdoing,” Mr. Mahler said.
Mr. Mahler said he did not know the identity of the accuser nor her relationship to Mr. Gallagher, who has not been charged with any crime.
According to a law enforcement official, the woman told authorities she was drinking Sunday afternoon at a bar in Middle Village, Queens, where Mr. Gallagher was also drinking. The woman said she left the bar about 8 p.m. and Mr. Gallagher left a short time later, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.
The woman told the police that she got into Mr. Gallagher’s vehicle and that they went to a small office above his Council district office at 78-25 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, where she said he raped her, the official said.
The official would not disclose the name of the bar or any information about the woman.
After the incident, she went home and called the police, the official said. She then went to a hospital, where she was examined, the official said.
The case is being investigated by the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown. A spokesman for his office, Kevin Ryan, said yesterday that he could not comment while the investigation was pending.
Mr. Mahler said the police served a search warrant late Monday afternoon. They were looking for DNA and other evidence, he and the law enforcement official said.
Mr. Mahler said he had not heard the account given by the law enforcement official. “All I’ve heard is innuendo,” Mr. Mahler said, adding that he believed his client would be vindicated.
Mr. Gallagher, meanwhile, was going about his “usual business,” Mr. Mahler said.
Mr. Gallagher, 43, was elected to the City Council in November 2001 and is one of three Republicans in the 51-member body. He is married with two children.
He is a former investigator for the state’s Crime Victims Board and was a longtime chief of staff to the former Council minority leader, Thomas V. Ognibene.
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn declined to comment yesterday, citing the continuing investigation.
