BATON ROUGE – Nine members of an LSU fraternity that was kicked off of campus amid hazing allegations have been arrested for hazing.
The nine LSU students are all members of Delta Kappa Epsilon, according to WBRZ.
Victims have said they were forced to lie on broken glass while fraternity members urinated on them and sprayed them with hoses, while others said they were struck with lead pipes, doused with gasoline, and burned with cigarettes, according to WBRZ.
Twenty-three-year-old Gaston Thomas Eymard of Kenner faces one count of criminal hazing, and one felony count of second-degree battery.
Twenty-year-old Blake Andrew Chalin of Gretna faces three counts of criminal hazing.
Twenty-three-year-old Charles Eugene Brakenridge faces one count of principal to criminal hazing and one count of criminal hazing – representative duty to report.
Twenty-three-year-old Cade Rain Duckworth faces three counts of criminal hazing, one count of felony attempted second-degree battery, one felony count of second-degree battery, and one felony count of false imprisonment.
Twenty-two-year-old Shakti P. Gilotra faces one count of criminal hazing and one felony count of second-degree battery.
Nineteen-year-old Joseph Dylan Harkrider faces one count of criminal hazing.
Twenty-three-year-old Malcolm Richard McNiece faces four counts of criminal hazing and one felony count of second-degree battery.
Twenty-three-year-old Alexander Joseph Rozas faces one count of principal to criminal hazing, and one count of criminal hazing – representative duty to report.
Twenty-one-year-old Garrett Joseph Sanders faces one count principal to criminal hazing, and one count of criminal hazing – representative duty to report.
LSU released the following statement:
“We can confirm that nine members of the LSU chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon, or DKE, have been arrested and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for hazing-related activities that are alleged to have taken place in the fall of 2018. This type of behavior is unacceptable and at complete odds with what we expect from our students. It does not belong at LSU.
This is a sad day for the university, but one that illustrates the cultural shift occurring at LSU. The quick action by the national DKE organization by revoking the chapter’s charter and the cooperation of several witnesses in this investigation demonstrate a growing recognition that hazing and other harmful activities cannot be tolerated. The LSU Police were dutifully informed of the incidents by the national organization and initiated the investigation, which concludes with today’s arrests.
We continue to seek the support of more alumni groups and national organizations to be actively involved in helping to change the culture and prevent this type of behavior from occurring in the future.”
