4 members of San Diego State College’s Phi Kappa Psi fraternity are dealing with felony prices after a skit carried out at a celebration final yr led to a pledge being set on hearth.
The member set on hearth suffered third-degree burns that lined greater than 16% of his physique on account of the skit carried out on Feb. 17, prosecutors mentioned.
Caden Cooper, 22; Lucas Cowling, 20; Christopher Serrano, 20, and Lars Larsen, 19, have been every charged Monday with no less than one felony, and all 4 pleaded not responsible. Larsen was the individual set on hearth.
The costs embody recklessly inflicting a hearth with nice bodily harm, conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the general public and violating the social host ordinance. If convicted of all prices, the defendants might face seven years in jail.
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The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity home at San Diego State College on Wednesday, Might 7, 2008, in San Diego. (AP)
The 4 charged have been all both energetic members or pledges of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Cooper was the fraternity’s president and Cowling was on the Pledge Board, whereas Serrano and Larsen have been pledges, prosecutors mentioned.
Larsen and Serrano, who weren’t of authorized ingesting age, additionally drank alcohol earlier than the skit whereas within the presence of Cowling.
Lately, the college’s fraternities have engaged in actions which have prompted investigations, with no less than half a dozen having been placed on probation up to now two years, in line with the college.
In 2020, the college probed allegations {that a} frat chief promoted blackout ingesting. That got here a yr after the dying of a freshman who fell out of a bunk mattress and cracked his cranium after ingesting along with his fraternity the night time earlier than.
College students and fogeys stroll on campus throughout move-in day at San Diego State College in San Diego, California, on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. (Getty Photos)
The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity was already on probation by the college for violating its insurance policies on alcohol and hazing when the burning incident on the social gathering occurred almost a yr in the past.
The social gathering concerned a skit that included Serrano setting Larsen on hearth, in line with prosecutors.
Cowling, Serrano and Larsen deliberate the skit through which Serrano set Larsen on hearth, in line with prosecutors. Larsen was within the hospital for weeks with third-degree burns, largely to his legs.
After the incident, Cowling, Larsen and Cooper lied to regulation enforcement investigating the incident, deleted proof on social media and advised different fraternity members to delete proof and never speak to anybody about what occurred, in line with prosecutors.
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Hepner Corridor on the campus of San Diego State College (SDSU), a part of the California State College (CSU) system, in San Diego, California, on Thursday, July 9, 2020. (Getty Photos)
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The 4 have been launched from jail and ordered to return to court docket March 18 to organize for a preliminary listening to scheduled for April 16.
They have been additionally ordered to not take part in any fraternity events or recruitment occasions and to comply with alcohol legal guidelines.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
