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We begin tonight with an exclusive report on the Providence police investigating one of their own. Eyewitness News has learned a man identified as a drug dealer claims a police officer robbed him of $18-thousand dollars. we're told the reputed drug dealer identified the officer as he came off his shift Monday.

The officer, who's name we are not using because he has not been charged, has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

The suspect officer is a patrolman who's been on the force for about seven years. He works the 3 to 11 p.m. Shift in the Olneyville section of the city.

The alleged drug dealer told police the officer took the money from him here in Olneyville on monday the man told investigators the police officer was on-duty, in uniform and driving a marked police car.

 The man who said he was robbed initially told investigators he won the $18,000 at the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.

We're told he later changed his story to say he had the $18,000 to buy ectasy from a drug dealer in Olneyville.. We're told the man and members of the police department's internal affairs division, which investigates charges against police officers, staked out the police department to see if the man recognized the officer.

The man apparentlly identified an officer leaving the building as the man who robbed him. The officer was taken into custody for questioning and his patrol car was impounded. While the internal affairs investigators staked out police headquarters the incoming 11p.m. Shift was held inside the building on a pretext.

Investigators did not want a mass of uniformed officers leaving the building at once, making it more difficult to identify the suspect office. And internal affairs officer sent out a department wide e-mail yesterday apologizing for creating a "stressful" situation by holding back the shift change Monday night.

An internal affairs spokesman would say only that the department is investigating an allegation of misconduct by an officer and that the allegation in no way reflects on any other officers. Stephen Famiglietti, the lawyer for the suspect officer, said his client vehemently denies the allegation. The investigation is continuing.