Three members of an Arizona fraternity are facing a hazing charge in connection with the death of a student during a rush event this weekend, police said.
Officers were called to a residence Saturday morning to help with an unresponsive 18-year-old male, according to the Flagstaff Police Department. The young man was not breathing, and bystanders had been performing CPR by the time officers arrived at the scene.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after paramedics arrived at the house, police said. Police identified the young man only as a student at Northern Arizona University.
Police said detectives executed search warrants for the residence and interviewed several witnesses, learning that there was a rush event for the Delta Tau Delta fraternity there the night before.
“Alcohol consumption was reported to have occurred by numerous individuals in attendance, including pledge candidates, which includes the deceased male,” police said.
Three members of the fraternity’s executive board were arrested and booked into jail on a charge of hazing, police said. They were identified as Ryan Creech, fraternity vice president; Carter Eslick, new member educator; and Riley Cass, treasurer.
Court records were not immediately available for the three 20-year-old fraternity members. They appeared Sunday morning in court, where they were appointed public defenders for their bail hearings.
No pleas were entered during the hearing. All three were granted bail on the condition that they do not speak to one another or any victims in the case. They are expected back in court on Feb. 19 for a pretrial conference.
The Coconino County attorney told NBC News that the case has not yet been submitted for review to its office but that it is working closely with the Flagstaff Police Department as it conducts its investigation.
Northern Arizona University released a statement Saturday describing the death as a “devastating loss” to the university’s community. It also acknowledged the three arrests, saying that the death occurred at an off-campus residence associated with the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
“We want to be clear: The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priorities,” the university said. “Violence, hazing or any other behavior that endangers others has no place at NAU.”
The university added that it was suspending Delta Tau Delta while it conducts its own investigation regarding potential violations of university policies.
Arizona passed a law in 2022 that made hazing a criminal offense in honor of Jack Culolias, who died as a freshman at Arizona State University. Hazing resulting in death is a Class 4 felony, according to the law.
Culolias was drinking during a pledge event at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in 2012 when he drank so much alcohol that he eventually drowned by falling into Tempe Town Lake after he was last seen leaving a fraternity event, according to NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix.
