Berkeley police suspect sorority hazing

[hoosier]

Police Blotter
By RICHARD BRENNEMAN (04-09-04)
Inebriated student sparks campus hazing probe

The collapse of a 19-year-old UC student on a South Berkeley sidewalk last Friday has triggered a UC Berkeley police investigation of what they suspect may have been an incident of sorority hazing.

Just one week earlier, police were summoned to the Regent Street apartment of a 21-year-old university student, Steve Saucedo, who had died from acute alcohol poisoning following a drinking binge with friends from Southern California.

The incidents come as state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) officers—teamed with officers from the Berkeley and UC police departments and underage decoys—have been running stings on city booze sellers.

The first raids in early January targeted San Pablo Avenue merchants, where more than half the stores sold booze to minors. A March 19 sweep along Telegraph Avenue and other locations near campus found 14 of the 26 targeted stores willing to sell to minors.

The stings are being run with the help of $50,000 ABC grants to police departments in Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego and Santa Cruz.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer Thursday announced the formation of a expanded statewide program designed to curb underage drinking by targeting stores, restaurants and bars.

“We have seen too many tragedies involving underage drinking, and we all must do our part to prevent them,” Lockyer said.

Target Responsibility for Alcohol Connected Emergencies (TRACE) evolved from a task force Lockyer formed last year after a 20-year-old student was killed by a drunk driver in March, 2003.

TRACE combines the efforts of the Attorney General’s office, ABC, the California Highway Patrol, the state Office of Traffic Safety, the California Police Chiefs Association, the California State Sheriff’s Association, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.