E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSArrest warrants were issued Monday for 22 people wanted in connection with the death of a Northern Illinois University freshman, which authorities say was alcohol- and hazing-related.
David Bogenberger was found dead the morning of Nov. 2 at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house near the DeKalb campus. Toxicology tests showed his blood-alcohol concentration was about five times the legal limit for driving.
The cause of death has been attributed to cardiac arrhythmia, with alcohol intoxication as a significant condition contributing to death, officials said.
Officials said arrest warrants were issued for five Pi Kappa Alpha leaders: fraternity president Alexander M. Jandik, 21, and event planner Steven A. Libert, 20, of Naperville, as well as fraternity vice president James P. Harvey, 21; fraternity pledge adviser Omar Salameh, 21; and fraternity secretary Patrick W. Merrill, 19, all of DeKalb.
They've been charged with Class 4 felony hazing.
Also on NBCChicago.com: Chicago mayor calls for nationwide assault weapons ban
Additionally, arrest warrants were issued for 17 fraternity members: Michael J. Phillip, Jr., 20, of Western Springs, Ill.; Thomas F. Costello, 20, of Munster; David R. Sailor, 20, of Princeton, Ill.; Alexander D. Renn, 19, of Naperville; Michael A. Marroquin, 20, of Roselle; Estevan A. Diaz, 22, of South Beloit, Ill.; Michael D. Pfest, 23, of Chicago; Andres Jiminez, Jr., 19, of Glendale Heights; Isaiah Lott, 19, of Cupertino, Calif.; Andrew W. Bouleanu, 21, of Skokie; Nsenzi Salasini, 20, of Mt. Prospect; as well as Hazel A. Vergaralope, 21; Nicholas A. Sutor, 19; Nelson A. Irizarry, 19; Johnny P. Wallace, 20; Daniel S. Post, 20; and Russ Coyner, 21, all of DeKalb.
They're charged with providing alcohol to underage pledges and "creating a situation where the pledges felt compelled to consume alcohol as part of membership initiation and the Greek parenting process," officials from the DeKalb Police Department and the DeKalb County Coroner's Office said in a written statement.
Bogenberger's family, including his parents, Gary and Ruth Bogenberger, also issued a statement in which they said universities must do more to "stop the hazing and initiation rituals."
Their statement continued:
No other family should endure what we are going through. Yet, we are losing these talented, beautiful and hopeful young people because of illegal drinking unrestrained by maturity and exacerbated by social pressure.
We are trying to understand the reality of our David’s death. It is almost impossible for us to accept that David is gone at the age of 19; that our future does not include his excitement at learning and growing; becoming a man; marrying and having children; that these events will never happen.
We appreciate the many condolences and kindnesses that have reached us. We acknowledge and appreciate the diligence of the law enforcement professionals of DeKalb County who have investigated the circumstances of David’s death and who, with the steps taken today, seek accountability for a horrible event.
But we also must acknowledge the concern we feel for the families of those charged today. The events of Nov. 1 and 2 unalterably changed the course of too many lives. And for what?
We have no desire for revenge. Rather, we hope that some significant change will come from David’s death. Alcohol poisoning claims far too many young, healthy lives. We must realize that young people can and do die in hazing rituals. Alcohol-involved hazing and initiation must end.
Leave a Comment:
So glad to see it was not a pot party. thanks to the feds.
There would not be one death if it were a pot party.
Pot has its own set of negative side effects. Some people don't think so, but I've seen plenty.
Why do we feel the need to drug ourselves anyway? Isn't reality good enough anymore?
You're joking! Have you read the news lately?
Anymore? It hasn't been for thousands of years. Man has always been looking for that cocktail hour well before Jesus supposedly gave away free wine.
The charges against most of these people is grandstanding and overreaching on the part of the prosecutor. Charging someone who is underage themselves with providing alcohol to another person who is underage is absurd. Neither of them purchased the alcohol. The only ones who can reasonably be charged are the ones who are 21+ who bought the alcohol and made it available to the others. As for hazing, unless one of these kids poured alcohol down the throat of the one who died, I do not see any charges holding up. Peer pressure does not constitute hazing. Hazing laws generally only apply to actual physical abuse. If we start trying to prosecute peer pressure as hazing we are going down a very dangerous road where no one will be responsible for their own actions if someone else egged them on to do something they knew was dangerous and stupid, as young people (and sometimes not so young) often do. This is a tragedy brought about by underage drinking and the only charges that will stand up or should stand up will be the ones against those who purchased the alcohol and made it available to the minors.
It's time for grandstanding and overreaching. Kids will think twice about killing each other. No, most of these kids will not be convicted but I sure like the message.
Hazing is stupid, and fraternities are stupid, only stupid people would try to do stupid things in order to belong into a stupid group. Half of them don't even have a girlfriend.
The fact that it even goes on still is mind-blowing.
This is typical sheep mentality that's bred into Americans. Helicopter parents fail to equip their spawn with any tools to make independent judgments, so this is what you get. It's just like tattoos. "I have to have a tattoo because 'everyone else' has one." (Stand back from the cries of "tattoos are an expression of individualism", which of course they are the polar opposite.) Social organizations are for emotional weaklings who need and crave the approval of others for everything they do.
___________________________________________________________________
Good morning kaybeetoys,,,,,,
,,,,,,,It might be time to ask yourself ;
Are you not aware that alcohol is a drug ????
How can you criticize pot use as bad drugs but alcohol a something that "affects us individually and that varies depending on many factors" ?
And while you are at it, you might as well criticize the worst, most deadly drug of the all. One that kills more people every day than ALL of the other "bad" drugs combined; tobacco.
You know, the one that our nation condones and exports to all corners of the earth.
.
Lets start by making hazing illegal and an act of stupidity which carries criminal prosecution.
.
When I was in college I had many frat friends that loved the idea of hazing. Nobody held a gun to anybody's head to join or to partake. They loved it. Beats me why. Back then it wasn't just alcohol ingestion, but lots of other things harmful to the body. They were also told to perform certain activities that most definitely were dangerous and could have easily ruined their lives. That is why today, I do not belong to any party or group. Peer pressure is part of any group regardless of content or age. People stop thinking independently and often using commonsense.
Fraternities and sororities are for the most part a huge waste of money, with lots of dumb drinking, sex and pranks as part of the program. Frat boys are known for their big-headed arrogance and rudeness. Frat girls are known for being drunken sluts. These alcohol deaths involving the Greek system happen at many places every year, and yet nobody shuts down these useless, dangerous organizations.
I'm fully aware that alcohol is a drug. The two drugs that kill and debilitate the most people on Earth are the two legal drugs in common use: alcohol and tobacco.
How is breathing pot smoke not damaging to the lungs?
While pot smoking might have benefits over alcohol use, it is still damaging to the body.
I choose to find other ways to relax that do not involve ingesting anything.
Yes, and the tool those idiots use is an assault weapon.
How many mass murders have been carried out by a guy using his bare hands?
Fraternity hazing. Or, in wartime, atrocities.
This was at a Pike house; one of their traditions. Consider what they did at Tennessee a couple of years ago. These guys are sickos.
This same fine bunch of boys (Pikes) at FSU got a woman so drunk she passed out, raped her with a tube of toothpaste, wrote obscenities on her naked body and dumped her outside her sorority house. Real leaders of the future, right?
It was just in September 2012 that Pikes made "Butt Chugging" famous in Knoxville Tennessee.
"These guys are sickos"
Listen, in no way do i think that any of the incidents that have been mentioned are acceptable. However, to make the assumption that every single chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha are the same sickos or 'leaders of the future' is absolutely absurd. Many great men & leaders came out of fraternities, including senators, CEO's, doctors, so on and so forth. Believe it or not, not all fraternities, or even chapters of fraternities are equal.
Education is so expensive, and these idiots do this? Why not just do away with fraternities and sororities completely. Lets get on with the business of educating.
Couldn't agree more. I'm reminded of a book I read roughly a year ago entitled "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses". The authors of that book engaged in a multi-year, multi-institution study of higher education both public and private, and discovered that a large reason why the United States is continuing to fall behind the rest of the world, educationally, is because college is viewed more as a "social lifestyle" than a place for higher learning.
For too many kids, college is viewed as a place to socialize and party or get wrapped up in athletic rivalries, et cetera. As the book points out, college professors are allowing students to "slip" because college administrations (and even some professors) value student feedback and use it as a way to determine future academic funding. Ergo, it's in the schools' best interests to placate students to keep them happy even if it means churning out students who aren't properly educated.
It's a dry read due to all the research data but it's a real eye opener and it really exposes the sham of colleges: Kids getting into six figure debt for an educational system that's built around a social environment for students and professors who care more about retaining tenure and research budgets than the quality of their teaching.
Not all fraternities are the same. I am proud to be a member of a chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity (Beta Nu) that voluntarily chose to go alcohol and smoke free inside our house. We rose to our creed of 'Temperance and Tolerance' and maintained a very safe and supportive environment at our house with all of our brothers. Honestly I wouldn't have made it through school without the support of my brothers helping me stay focused on my education, and helping me through rough times I went through. Tragedies like this shouldn't paint the entire fraternity system as bad - it's truly unfortunate if we let them. People will always find a way to go out there and drink themselves stupid - removing fraternities will not ultimately change that. If anything I would say the drinking age of 21 contributes more than anything.
My condolences to the family that lost their son - that is a terrible loss that no one should have to experience.
Shelia, well said and I'd go even further. We need to place full responsibility for such actions regardless of housing location on the college. A college provides various forms of support creating a foundation for those who live away from their home while attending school. The students accused are a reflection of the college and it's policies. What employer would hire any candidate from any such institution with a record such as this? I know many who currently are very angry at Notre Dame's response regarding rape charges pertaining to football team members. The college's systemic failure to eliminate this continuing problem has cost Notre Dame. Many I know look at such information as indicative of a deeper failure of the college board and staff. Such actions by students have legs with the larger community. Schools better take note as parents and the like are not accepting their lack of leadership on such issues given higher education costs. Regarding Notre Dame's response it's indicative of a long established systemic problem most conscionable parents will not risk.
Mary, they're adults. It's the college's job to educate them not to parent them.
Mary, that's 100% baloney. Listen to yourself..... responsibility for the little brats' behavior is on anyone but themselves. DesertJazz has the right idea, but you could probably count the number of such places on the fingers of one hand. Most are exactly like the one in this story. They should all be closed down, but alas, Captiosus has put his/her finger on exactly the problem. The system itself is one circular-firing moral hazard.
They definitely need to kill this chicken in front of the monkey and hopefully scare some sense into these silly activities. Hazing = assault.
How is it assaut, doesn"t the person being hazed agree to do it? He/She are not force to join these insane & imature groups.
It's peer pressure, DKJ. Some kids are mature enough to resist it but many are not. There's a thin line between intoxication and alcohol poisoning.
Alcohol affects us individually and that varies depending on many factors as well. This young man was probably trying to show he could keep up with the drinking of his peers but it ended up costing him his life. There is an epidemic of alcohol poisoning on today's college campuses. Binge drinking is the new normal.
Fraternity hazing is an ugly little secret that is all too often ignored by the school administration. I'm glad someone is finally getting tough and arresting everyone involved in this incident. Someone could have saved this boy just by speaking up.
If you are not mature enough to resist the urge to join a group like this--and let's be realistic, what fraternities often do is not a surprise--then there are risks involved. At 19 you are a grown up. It's sad that some of them make very bad decisions, but no one forces them to do this. I began talking to my kids about this kind of behavior when they were still in grade school. If by the time they are in college they choose to go down this path, it will be their own choice. I can't make them be a certain way, no matter how much I wish I could. You can't save people who don't want to be saved. It's a sad fact that parents have to face.
@kaybeetoys
I do agree that Fraternity/Sorority hazing in general is something that needs to be cracked-down on by school administrations to avoid incidents such as this. However, I can't really put the blame solely on the Fraternity because clearly the freshman had a choice (not to give into peer pressure/know your limit). How college is viewed by new students and the norm of binge drinking can also share a portion of the blame, as it is seen as 'normal' to party and get ridiculously drunk.
However, I have a hard time believing that all 22 of these students were involved with this incident. I can see those that were at least 21 having charges brought against them for providing alcohol to a minor, but as JS in SD stated before, the rest seems like a reach. I'm not sure if you have ever been to a fraternity party before, but from my experience fraternity brothers hardly hang around each other at parties. Most of the time you have 2-3 of them stick together and mingle or are by themselves chasing after a girl, hitting the dance floor, or catching up with their friends not affiliated with the fraternity. Hell, some of them even chill in their rooms most of the time away from the bustle of the party. Given that knowledge, there are very few people who would be actively keeping track of how many beers this freshman had (except himself, of course). Now I'm unsure how they arrived at issuing warrants for these 22 students (did they just go after everyone attending the party?), as the article is lacking information in that regard, but I just don't see all these charges holding up in court.
Drink responsibly, if such a thing is even possible.
NO place for hazing and initiation indignities in this day & age. These 'old school' fraternities & sororities need to STOP this for good or face harsh legal ramifications.
Condolences to the boys family.. These kids will have to live with what they did. They should be made to face his family, and explain themselves and their actions. Let them see what they have done.
Getting falling down drunk has been a rite of passage for young men for thousands of years. Sometimes people die. Prohibition didn't stop it. Nothing school officials or cops do will stop it either. All they can possibly do is shift the locations where it occurs by a few thousand feet. Young men have to test themselves. Sometimes it is in war, sometimes it is out of a bottle, sometimes behind the wheel of a car, sometimes in gangs, sometimes in fraternities. Mothers may weep, fathers may rage, but it is in the genes of their young to face down risks. They are powerless to stop it.
Your kidding right? Sometimes a person is completely demented too. What genes are you talking about forcing someone to down so much alcohol as to kill you? What Fairy Tale and Folklore are you pushing above? Really!
Speaking as a college freshman, often times you aren't even forced to drink so much. Sometimes you just want to impress someone, or lose track around shot 12. Not to mention drinking doesn't lead to good decisions about what your limit is. What we need to do is lower the drinking age to 18, like it was when my parents were in school, so that at least people won't be afraid to take a drunk friend to the hospital, or other emergency services.
Drinking to excess may well be a right of passage, but drinking to the point of death should not be part of that.
Education about alcohol as a dangerous drug has been provided in schools for years and that doesn't seem to have had much effect. I fear we are raising a nation of alcoholics who won't live past forty.
Many of these kids are just following the crowd. I guess I was lucky in a way...my father was a mean alcoholic and drinking has never much appealed to me.
How about a test where they exhibit discipline and self-control and don't succumb to those vices?
What bullsh!t. When I was in college I didn't drink and I didn't do dope. I studied and made dean's list 8/8. Believe it or not, it IS possible not to be a knucklehead like this clown was.
He isnt saying that EVERY single college male plans to drink themselves to death as a right of passage. He is simply stating that people are going to do what they are going to do, regardless of the restrictions that are put on them. I am a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, i have not had a sip of alcohol in my life, i have made the deans list my first 5 semesters on campus, and I have aspirations of entering the medical field. The problem with stories like these as that they highlight kids that join fraternities for the wrong reason. Was it wrong? Yes! Should those responsible be held accountable? Yes.
But jumping to the conclusion that fraternity members are nothing but drunken idiots, and that the Greek system should be completely abolished is absolutely absurd. People need to do their research, and understand what they are getting themselves into. If you are asked to do something that you feel is unnecessary or dangerous, stand up for yourself! If the members are halfway worth while, they will respect you for it. And if not, well then you have no need associating with them anyways.
Stereotyping fraternities may be the easy way out, but it is certainly not the solution to the problem.
He isnt saying that EVERY single college male plans to drink themselves to death as a right of passage. He is simply stating that people are going to do what they are going to do, regardless of the restrictions that are put on them. I am a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, i have not had a sip of alcohol in my life, i have made the deans list my first 5 semesters on campus, and I have aspirations of entering the medical field. The problem with stories like these as that they highlight kids that join fraternities for the wrong reason. Was it wrong? Yes! Should those responsible be held accountable? Yes.
But jumping to the conclusion that fraternity members are nothing but drunken idiots, and that the Greek system should be completely abolished is absolutely absurd. People need to do their research, and understand what they are getting themselves into. If you are asked to do something that you feel is unnecessary or dangerous, stand up for yourself! If the members are halfway worth while, they will respect you for it. And if not, well then you have no need associating with them anyways.
Stereotyping fraternities may be the easy way out, but it is certainly not the solution to the problem.
What would be the difference be if they handed a loaded gun with a bullet in the chamber. Forcing the person to pull the trigger. Hopefully this goes on their record for everyone to see in the future. How stupid, inane and immature can a person actually be? They should all be removed from the University and made to pay restitution to the victims family.
Next thing we will all read on this, is that the lawyers are suing the parents to for liability. Hope the homeowners have umbrella policies and they cover for their little johnies. When will people learn that providing alcohol to any minor is playing with fire and you are litterally committing your own financial lifetime suicide. If someone dies like this case, you are totally screwed for life. These 22 will never get another federal student loan if convicted on these charges. The charges must have some bite and teeth otherwise this would not be happening. Many parents upset I am sure, but that is what you get when you know more than likely what goes on at these pledges to fraternites and soroities. I would never agree to give my child a dollar for college if they wanted to be a part of these social groups. They go to college to learn and get a degree, not waste themselves with alcohol at parties on a regular basis. And really 5 times the legal limit for being drunk. How much would he have had to consume? Unbelievable and stupid. Sorry, guys but I don't feel a bit sorry for you. I think you need to set an example for all others around this country that this type of pledging and drinking will not be tolerated under the law. This time, I hope the prosecution can make the charges stick and some real sentencing is handed down. Only tough standards and penalties will stop these types of deaths.
Stupid irresponsible kids. This keeps happening over and over. They will never learn. There is no reason for them to continue wasting their time going to an institution of higher learning. They will be permanently expelled for sure. I hope they all do some jail time. Enough is enough, I hope they make an example of each an every one of them.
I hope each one gets sued successfully for at least a few million so they will have their wages garnished for the rest of their lives to remember their stupidity everytime that get a pay check.
Pass legislation to ban all fraternities.
I hope you are taking about congress!!!
Pass legislation to ban all alcohol.
Pass legislation to ban CK from posting:)
Yet another reason to never join a fraternity...one of their friends is dead and everyone has arrest warrants. The fraternity leaders now are all charged with a felony and all of the members are are charged with a lesser crime. Good luck to them finding a job now in this economy with their college degree and a felony conviction (once they get out of prison).
The life expectancy of people today in the US is about 70 to 80 years. These fraternity brothers are only in their late teens to early 20s...what a way to screw up the rest of their lives. People, alcohol causes cancer and it really will just destroy your life when it is abused...once you are biologically addicted to it, it will take something really bad to happen in order for you to take back control of your life if you even can because a lot of people cannot fight the addiction and struggle with it for life or it is too late once you are lying on a slab in the morgue.
Don't be one of the dumb masses...think before you drink. There is no reason EVER to drink so much as to be 5 times over the legal limit...that is just inviting death.
Just one more thing...when I talk to younger people at my university when I am teaching a biology or chemistry class, I am often surprised when you ask them how many smoke and very few do. The reasons they usually give for not smoking is because "smoking is dumb because it causes cancer". Most of this generation grew up when Big Tobacco was being sued by the Federal Government to recoup health care costs since smoking is known to cause cancer. So, I am always surprised then when I ask the next question of how many drink and the majority do. So, the same students that do not smoke because it causes cancer choose to drink even though science is just catching up and there is a proven definite link between drinking alcohol and cancer which negates any positive benefit from the antioxidants for your heart (as people like to use that excuse, they would get the same antioxidants from grape juice). Which makes me think they are just uninformed in that if they knew alcohol can causes cancer just like smoking, they might not do it since that is their reason for not smoking, not wanting to get cancer or to reduce their risk, especially if cancer runs in their family. The majority of scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals linking alcohol and cancer have come just in the last 3 to 4 years.
Based on the new scientific evidence, "there is no level of alcohol consumption for which cancer risk is null." "U.S. guidelines recommend no more than two drinks per day for men, and no more than one for women. The problem? Such rules may have kept people from getting too drunk, but they failed to take into account the growing body of work linking alcohol use with cancer, according to the authors in the article linked below. For an article about the effects of Alcohol and Cancer, read this:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/11/news/la-heb-alcohol-cancer-risk-20110711
and this:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-alcohol-consumption-guidelines-inadequate-cancer.html
"Alcohol is an underappreciated risk factor for a wide range of conditions: it causes roughly 4% of all deaths worldwide (about half the number of deaths caused by tobacco) and 5% of the global burden of disease or disability(about the same as that caused by tobacco)...Consumption of alcohol should never be encouraged on health grounds. The health benefits are outweighed by the harmful effects and might be overestimated because of confounding by other risk factors" - from The Lancet, ISSN: 0140-6736, Elsevier Science, Volume 373, issue 9682 (June, 27 - July, 3 2009)
There you go , BAN, BAN, BAN!
You (as parents) raised a child who thinks that fraternity inclusion is worth giving up life and liberty. How amazing.
"creating a situation where the pledges felt compelled to consume alcohol as part of membership initiation and the Greek parenting process,"
Therefore, all responsibility for the actions are forgiven and ignored. After all, sonone created the situation.
Sorrry for the death and the parents' pain, but PPffssstt. He wasn't a baby.
There you go, WHINE. WHINE, WHINE!
Gee people, BAN this, BAN that, etc etc. Has anyone heard of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY? No one poured the booze into this kid, he did it himself, to himself. Fraternities have been around for ages, and yes, more than one has died from the party's they have. And more will die in the future, no doubt.
Yes, most people are sorry he died, but joing a fraternity was HIS CHOICE. Guess he screwed up, big time.
Yes, we believe in personal responsibility. The fraternity members who have been arrested are being held personally responsible for the consequences of their actions. See how that works?
Ban Personal Responibility!!
We need a better story. The majority of those this story says are charged with providing alcohol to a minor are minors.
kick them all out of college,ban the faternity,put them all in jail for a few years and then make them all get jobs actually working for a living with no college "education"
if you put them in jail for a few years they will all come out as lawyers on our dime.
Why isn't congress saying anything about this??? Why are they trying to figure out another law to write and vote on because this is as bad as the shooting in Conn.
How do you know if it was a pot party that there would be no deaths? Do you know all the people who attended? Maybe someone had an allergy to pot, or what it more than likely would be laced with. Maybe someone has a heart condition, or other medical problem. Maybe the effect of the pot would cause someone to get get crazy instead of just "fun".
As it is the choice of a weapon used to kill this person was booze. If they had killed him with a gun playing Russian roulette, what an outrage that would be. But booze as a weapon and the excuse is he was being hazed into a fraternity, well that is just cause for hardly a story at all anymore.
It's time to put more booze controls into place. It kills just as lethal as other weapon.
It is just more accepted as a way of killing someone.
I am betting the parents of this kid don't feel any less loss than any other parent that losses a kid to some other violence or weapon of choice.
And yes someone did force the issue and to make him drink. Personal responsibly goes hand in hand when giving a set of hazing standards that he had to make or break to get in. That college is responsibly for making sure those frat houses are not putting kids at danger with hazing.
Rick-881466
Well, 1/26th as bad.
Why would any self confident person wan to join a bunch of egotistical morons who think they are are gods. Frats are for those who cannot think for them selves and will always have the title of wannabe.
I'm always skeptical when local police charge EVERY ONE in the Fraternity with a crime rather than zeroing in on those actually responsible. While i'm certain it will be eventually sorted out, you have innocent kids being trampled through the criminal justice system for no reason.
Pike was a hugely social fraternity when I was in college in the 60's. I suspect that it still is a campus clique of brothers with enormous egos that need to be constantly fed. Self importance was held as their highest value.
Its sad to hear again that a young life was lost to a foolish tradition. Five times the legal limit... Incredible.
Pike will likely be banned from campus. The university and Pike will be sued. The brothers will likely be charged to various degrees.
A sad day for this young man's family and close friends.