Alum charged in Indiana hazing case

[hoosier]

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March 15, 2003

Former IU student charged in fraternity injury

By Steve Hinnefeld,
Herald-Times Staff Writer

Prosecutors have charged a former Indiana University student in connection with an alleged hazing incident last month at Sigma Nu fraternity.

David E. Pulse II, 23, of Greenwood, was charged this week with felony criminal recklessness, according to court records. As of Friday, Monroe County Jail had no record of his arrest

According to a police affidavit, a Sigma Nu pledge said Pulse dunked him in a water-filled trash can, grabbed his throat and threw him across a trash-covered floor at a fraternity function.

He said the incident took place at a senior night event at which he said 23 pledges were forced to kneel on the floor with their heads down, then quizzed on house history.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound Pulse dunked him and tossed him across the floor because he failed to answer questions correctly, the pledge said.

The 18-year-old pledge said he cut his hand on broken glass on the floor. Fraternity members took him at his insistence to Bloomington Hospital, he said, where surgery was needed to repair the cuts, he said.

Pulse denied the allegations, according to the affidavit.

The pledge reported the incident to IU police Feb. 19, six days after it was said to have happened at the 1015 N. Jordan Ave. fraternity.

He said Pulse was invited to the function by a fraternity member and introduced by the organization's pledge trainer.

Pulse admitted being at the function but denied touching the victim or throwing him on the floor, the affidavit said. He said pledges who didn't correctly answer questions were asked to roll in the trash on the floor if they wanted to, but weren't forced.

Pulse was last enrolled at IU in 2000, according to university records.

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He is being charged with criminal recklessness as a Class D felony, carrying a standard penalty of 18 months in jail. Indiana law makes hazing a crime, but Monroe County chief deputy prosecutor Jim Trulock said the allegations against Pulse didn't precisely fit the legal definition of hazing.

According to a prosecutor's office bond statement, Pulse was arrested in 2001 on allegations he hit another person with a bar stool at Kilroy's Sports Bar, but no charges were filed. He completed a pretrial diversion program after being cited in 1999 for illegal consumption of alcohol and possession of a false ID.

Members of the Sigma Nu chapter denied any hazing took place. Representatives of the national Sigma Nu organization came to Bloomington in late February to meet with IU officials about the allegation.

Sigma Nu's Beta Eta chapter at IU is one of the university's oldest fraternities, established in 1892. Its Web site features a picture of longtime IU President Herman B Wells, a Sigma Nu member.

Dean of Students Dick McKaig said a university investigation of whether the fraternity engaged in improper behavior will proceed now that police have turned findings over to the prosecutor.