Four members of a California college fraternity are facing charges after a pledge was set on fire during a party, authorities said.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said: statement Four members of a San Diego State University fraternity have been criminally charged for an alleged “skit” that resulted in an arson attack on the pledge hall, it was announced Monday.
San Diego State University has temporarily suspended its fraternity.
Kayden Cooper, 22 years old. Lucas Cowling, 20 years old. Christopher Serrano, 20 years old. and Lars Larsen, 19, were both charged with recklessly causing a fire resulting in serious bodily injury, conspiracy to commit an act harmful to the public, and violating the community ordinance. If convicted on all charges, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of seven years and two months in prison.
The court imposed several conditions on the suspects, including not attending fraternity parties, not participating in fraternity recruitment events, and obeying all laws, especially those related to illegal drinking.
The San Diego District Attorney's Office announced that the Pi Kappa Psi fraternity held a large party at the fraternity's home on the evening of February 17, 2024. The fraternity held the party even though the university placed the fraternity on probation for violating its alcohol and drug policy. according to cloudy fox news.
Prosecutors said Cowling, Serrano and Larsen “planned a skit in advance in which Serrano would set Larsen on fire.”
At one point, the “skit” reportedly got out of hand and Larsen suffered burns to 16 percent of her body, primarily to her legs. Larsen was hospitalized for several weeks for treatment of third-degree burns.
Cooper was president of the Frato, Cowling was a member of the pledge committee, and Larsen and Serrano were pledgers.
Larsen and Serrano were under the legal drinking age at the time of the incident, but they allegedly drank alcohol in Cowling's presence before the skit.
The district attorney said Cooper, Cowling, and Larson ” lied to law enforcement officials, deleted evidence on social media, and directed other fraternity members to delete evidence and not talk about it. “They made a concerted effort to thwart law enforcement efforts to investigate the incident.” Someone about the incident? ”
San Diego State University said it received an anonymous tip about the incident and notified university police.
The school has launched an administrative investigation “addressing both the conduct of the individual students and the conduct of the organizations involved.”
San Diego State University has placed the fraternity on interim suspension, with all organizational activities suspended pending an investigation.
“The university has taken additional steps, but due to student privacy laws, we are unable to publicly disclose those actions,” the school said in a statement Wednesday.
Phi Kappa Psi fraternity did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. NBC News.
The defendants are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on March 18th, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 16th.
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