The time two Panthers cheerleaders got in a fight in Tampa bathroom

It was 10 years ago when one of the more shocking, and quite frankly entertaining, chapters of Panthers history was written: Two TopCats were arrested after getting into a fight at a Tampa nightclub.

Here’s how it went down

According to Charlotte Observer reports about the Nov. 6, 2005 incident:

• The skirmish started at 2:10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005, at nightclub Banana Joe’s (now closed) near downtown Tampa.
• Witnesses told police the two cheerleaders were engaged in sexual activity in a bathroom stall. (The women and their attorneys have denied there was any sex.)

• Other customers got angry and started yelling “because they took too long” in the stall.
• When the women emerged, the arguing escalated and one of the cheerleaders punched a third woman in the face, giving her a black eye.

• Police had a hard time, initially, identifying the women: “We are trying to get the fingerprints of all the cheerleaders from the NFL so we can get this right,” said Lt. John Newman. “The girls really look alike, so the last thing I want to do is base this on a photo.”
• Once IDs were confirmed, the two were arrested and spent a night in jail.

• TopCat Renee Thomas (right), at the time a dance major at UNC Charlotte, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to probation, community service and anger-management classes.
• The other cheerleader, Angela Keathley (left), a nurse at Carolinas Medical Center, also received probation and had to complete a first-time offenders program.
• The Panthers fired both of them.

The Reaction

• The story ranked among the top three most-viewed in charlotte.com’s nine-year history.

• On ESPN.com, more people e-mailed it to friends Monday than any other story.

• The Panthers‘ Web site, which features photos of its cheerleaders, bent under so many hits that it was shut down.

• Even Jay Leno joked about the women on “The Tonight Show.”

• Reactions from the masses ranged: “Pics, please?” to “My little girl loves the TopCats. How do you explain this to a 10-year-old?” to “You ask 100 guys, and 75 of them are going to be, ‘Oh, yeah!’ It’s probably more than that, but this is Charlotte, and I’m going to be conservative.”

• Oh, and Penthouse tried to get them to pose nude.

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 9:00 PM.