No criminal charges in PiKA-Reno pledge drowning
 

DA's office won't file charges in UNR death

Lenita Powers
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
11/5/2002 10:32 pm

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office will not file criminal charges in the drowning death of a fraternity pledge at the University of Nevada, Reno, officials said Tuesday.

But a UNR official said Pi Kappa Alpha members and pledges still face possible suspension or even expulsion for their roles in the Oct. 10 death of Albert Jerome “A.J.” Refuerzo Santos, an 18-year-old freshman from Las Vegas.

Assistant District Attorney John Helzer said a review of the investigation determined Santos and eight other pledges were not victims of a fraternity hazing, but had decided on their own to make the 1:20 a.m. swim to one of the lake’s fountains and back.

“When asked by law enforcement why they had decided to swim to the fountain, officers were told it was a ‘pride thing’,” Helzer said.

In 1999, the Nevada Legislature passed a law making hazing on high school and college campuses a criminal offense.

Santos’ stepfather said the family plans to consult a lawyer about filing a civil suit in connection with the teenager’s drowning in UNR’s Manzanita Lake.

“We’ll still be looking into other avenues,” said Bob Day, Santos’ stepfather.

“It’s a wide-open field as far as we’re concerned.”

Rose Rivera, a distant relative who gave Santos a place to stay while he attended college, said he had become like a grandson to her.

“I wish they’d investigate them more, but it’s up to the authorities,” the 81-year-old Rivera said.

“I grieve for him. He was such a very good kid, so polite and he never gave me any trouble,” she said. “He was such a scholar always studying. I feel he was stolen. Just 18 years old. That’s no way to die.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Helzer noted that Santos had informed the other pledges he could not swim, but he was told the lake was no more than 3 to 4 feet deep and that he probably could walk or be carried to the fountain.

“In spite of (that), Albert Santos was left near the shore of Manzanita Lake while the remainder of the group swam to the fountain,” Helzer said.

Minutes later, Santos was discovered missing and rescue workers eventually found his body in about 7 feet of water. Tests indicated Santos had consumed a slight amount of alcohol.

“Witnesses indicate that pledges were told to get in, get wet and get out,” Helzer said.

Some of the pledges were encouraged to swim, but Helzer noted that members of the fraternity who could not swim had not been excluded from membership.

“It appears that the group swim to the fountain exceeded what they would have been required to do,” Helzer said of the pledges. “In conclusion, while these facts reveal a tragedy took place, they do not support the criminal prosecution of individual students.”

UNR officials banned the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter from the campus on Monday because the fraternity violated its agreement to protect student pledges, said Rita Laden, UNR’s assistant vice president of student life services. The fraternity’s members and pledges now may face further disciplinary action, she said.

Laden said the police investigation will be reviewed to determine whether any fraternity members or pledges violated UNR’s student code of conduct.

That code includes a prohibition against hazing, which covers activities that could humiliate, degrade or endanger a student.

“If so, then they would be charged individually through the student judicial process,” she said. “This is all hypothetical, but punishment could range from suspension to expulsion from school.”