On April 15, an anonymous witness reported an incident of hazing at Cardinal Gardens, according to DPS logs.
“An anonymous witness reported that two students have been hazing fraternity pledges at the location,” the report reads.
In the report, DPS labeled the incident as “Assault-Hazing.” According to DPS, the incident occurred at an earlier date, but was reported on Wednesday.
“To our knowledge, it happened earlier,” Captain Edgar Palmer said via a phone call interview. “This was not new information, but addendum to old information.”
Palmer said the fraternity pledges were members of a “social fraternity that is not official.” He is unsure which house they were from, as the information they have is preliminary.
The individual reported the hazing through LiveSafe, according to Palmer. The applications allows students to anonymously message DPS about crime and safety issues.
Even though the DPS report reads that the incident occured on April 15, it is not a new incident, but rather another LiveSafe tip on a previous incident, Palmer said in an email. The incident occured before LA County’s Stay at Home order was issued, according to Palmer.
Palmer said it is unclear whether the person who reported the incident is one of the fraternity pledges or a witness.
“There is limited information that came in and there are certain privacy guarantees we must follow,” Palmer said.
DPS investigators are currently looking for witnesses and more evidence. Depending on what they find, they will send over the report to Student Affairs.
DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said the university sets the penalty for instances like this.
“It could be as simple as counseling by Student Affairs or, in extreme cases, there is the possibility of criminal charges,” Carlisle said in a phone interview. .
If the student’s lives were put in danger, criminal charges could be filed, Carlilse said. If that were the case, LAPD would become involved.
Carlisle said hazing is taken very seriously at the university and DPS is doing the best it can to investigate the instance.