Members of an Arizona fraternity are alleged to have instructed pledges to drink from large bottles of vodka the night before a Northern Arizona University student was pronounced dead, court documents say.
Three members of the university's chapter of Delta Tau Delta face a hazing charge in connection with the unidentified 18-year-old male's death, Flagstaff police said. Officers were called Saturday morning to an off-campus residence where other people were performing CPR on the student, who was found unresponsive.
He was pronounced dead after paramedics arrived, police said.
The arrested Delta Tau Delta members were identified as Ryan Creech, the fraternity's vice president; Carter Eslick, the new member educator; and Riley Cass, the treasurer.
Probable cause affidavits filed in the three cases allege that the night before the student died, a group of four "pledges" were instructed to drink large amounts of alcohol in a drinking game.
The game, called "don't f--- your brother," required the pledges to finish two handles of vodka, according to the affidavits. A handle is 1.75-liter bottle, and two would have amounted to 3.5 liters of vodka.
A witness told authorities he believed the bottles were diluted with water, the affidavits said.
The affidavits said the pledges were told to pass around the first bottle and given a 30-minute break before they were given a second bottle to finish. All four of the pledges reportedly vomited during the break, the affidavits said.
One the people in the residence told authorities that he came back from McDonald's sometime around either 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. Saturday and saw the deceased student sleeping on an air mattress. He was making an "unusual snore breath" and gagging noises similar to those of a cat with a hairball while he slept, the affidavits said.
At around 3 a.m., some of the people in the residence did a Google search for alcohol poisoning and adjusted his sleeping position, according to the affidavits. They are also alleged to have checked his pulse and his breathing.
Cass reportedly stayed with him until about 6 a.m., when he left to retrieve a jacket and fell asleep somewhere else, the affidavits said. Police were called at 8:44 a.m. when the student was found unresponsive.
Cass, Eslick and Creech did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. They appeared in court Sunday morning but did not enter pleas.
The Coconino County judge told the three men that he didn't believe they had any malice and that it appeared to be "a foolish incident that got out of hand," but he noted that someone still ended up dead.
Northern Arizona University described the death in a statement Saturday as a “devastating loss” to the university’s community. It acknowledged the three arrests and added that the chapter of Delta Tau Delta would be suspended pending an investigation by the university.
“Violence, hazing or any other behavior that endangers others has no place at NAU," the university said.
The fraternity said in a statement Monday that it was aware of the investigation and encouraged its members to cooperate with law enforcement.
"Our position on hazing is clear: it is the antithesis of brotherhood and a violation of the values of Delta Tau Delta," the organization said.
It went on to stay that it "vigorously supports" anti-hazing legislation and strives to create an environment where men can thrive personally, academically and professionally.
"It is for this reason that our organization so strongly rejects hazing," Delta Tau Delta said. "We know that brotherhood requires trust, and hazing betrays that sacred bond."
