⭕ After Rutgers student’s critical injuries, hazing probe continues
⭕ Prosecutor weighs in on who drove student for help
⭕ As house safety is studied, hazing victim family warns of “cover-up” tactics

NEW BRUNSWICK — A week after a Rutgers University student suffered life-threatening injuries at a frat house, the community still has more questions than answers.

With few details released by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the public has been faced with competing narratives about what might have happened. The incident has also reopened painful questions about fraternity culture and campus safety at New Jersey’s largest university.

As the student remains hospitalized, investigators are examining whether the tragedy stemmed from hazing — now a felony under the state’s Timothy J. Piazza Law — or from unsafe housing conditions at a fraternity with a long record of violations. The outcome could test how seriously schools and prosecutors enforce anti-hazing laws and regulations.

The claim that the critical injuries, which left the student unconscious, were the result of an unfortunate mishap at the home was promulgated by the parent of another frat student, who took that story to NJ.com.

Competing narratives: Accident or cover-up?

State building inspection documents that were obtained this week by New Jersey 101.5 reveal a lengthy history of safety violations. But known hazards with electrical wiring had been fixed before the day of the accident, the documents reveal.

“Parents and alumni go into protection mode,” said Evelyn Piazza, a New Jersey mother whose son Timothy died in a 2017 hazing incident at Penn State, which led to new laws in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Piazza has been in contact with the Rutgers student’s family and remains unconvinced by the narrative floated by people close to the fraternity, which has since been suspended by the university.

“This is standard operating procedure for frats that haze — create lies and keep repeating them, like that makes it truth,” she said.

The following are all the confirmed facts we know about this case so far, including details being reported for the first time by New Jersey 101.5.

Rutgers frat house on College Avenue closed during hazing investigation

Rutgers frat house on College Avenue closed during hazing investigation(Google Maps)

🚨 Student found unresponsive, being loaded into car

After a disconnected 911 call around 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 15, prosecutors said Rutgers police officers found the young man injured and unresponsive at a New Brunswick residence.

A parent of another fraternity member later told the press that the victim had been transported to the hospital by others at the house.

In response to questions by New Jersey 101.5, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that officers arrived to the scene to find the unconscious student being loaded into a personal vehicle.

“The police told the students that he needs to go to the hospital, so they just drove him there,” the spokeswoman said.

There has been no update on the Rutgers student’s medical condition, and his identity has remained undisclosed as of Tuesday.

 

Rutgers frat house on College Avenue closed during hazing investigation

(Google Maps)

⚠️ Rutgers frat house had long history of safety violations

The university suspended the Rutgers chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi and shuttered the house on College Avenue after the student was hospitalized.

The Alpha Sigma Phi College Avenue frat house had building violations for at least a decade.

Most recent reports, including one dated Sept. 19, say previous wire and electrical issues had been “abated” upon previous reinspection.

attachment-nextdoor-nj1015

Known, unresolved safety issues did not include wiring at time of injury

More safety concerns involved a fire alarm system, a carbon monoxide detector, debris blocking doors, and ceilings in two bathroom and a hallway that needed a protective coating to be up to code.

The Bureau of Housing Inspection, under the state’s Division of Codes and Standards in the Department of Community Affairs, was due to re-inspect for those outstanding violations on or after Oct. 29.

An “addendum” inspection done separately last month, with a report also issued on Sept. 19, did not list electrical or exposed wires among the new problems at the house, which is listed as having capacity for 11 residents.

Those new violations included a fire alarm not working in a common area; a “thumb lock” needing to be removed from a cellar door, and a tarp that had been lying for four months outside a rear door that posed a “trip and fall” hazard.

A re-inspection on those documented concerns was slated for late November.

Mother of hazing victim speaks out, warns of “cover-up” culture

A New Jersey family that has grieved the deadly consequences of hazing remains confident that this case ultimately will warrant the state’s stringent anti-hazing law.

Evelyn Piazza said the focus on the house’s shoddy living conditions could be an intentional misdirection.

“We fully believe this was hazing. We’ve seen this kind of situation in our case and with other parents of hazing victims,” she said, adding “My guess is that the pledges won’t talk for fear of repercussions.”

She said they dealt with the same behavior during their criminal case after Timothy Piazza died after binge-drinking-related hazing in 2017, which exposed a brutal culture of secrecy and abuse in fraternity life.

His death led to one of the largest fraternity prosecutions in U.S. history. It also prompted sweeping anti-hazing reforms, including Pennsylvania’s Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law and New Jersey’s 2021 Timothy J. Piazza Law, which strengthened penalties and required schools to adopt strict hazing prevention and reporting policies.

Alpha Sigma Phi owns the property under scrutiny

The College Avenue property is owned by the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, according to land records with the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office.

State officials with the Department of Community Affairs on Tuesday evening said that a historical document identifies “the Rutgers Alumni Association of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity” as a grantee of the property.

That led to a partial name listing on various state inspection reports in the field for property ownership, which was incorrect.

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