SAN DIEGO — Four members of a San Diego State University (SDSU) fraternity are facing charges after a pledge was set on fire during a party.
The incident happened on Feb. 17, 2024, during a large party at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, NBC San Diego reports. As part of a skit, the fraternity had one of the pledges set another pledge on fire. The 19-year-old victim suffered third-degree burns on 16% of his body, mostly his legs, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. He spent weeks in the hospital to treat the burns, officials said.
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The four defendants, Caden Cooper, 22, Lucas Cowling, 20, Christopher Serrano, 20, and Lars Larsen, 19, were arraigned Monday and charged with multiple felonies, including recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public, and violating the social host ordinance. The fraternity was already on probation at the time of the incident. All defendants pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance. If convicted on all charges, the defendants face sentences ranging from probation to seven years and two months in state prison.
Prosecutors identified Cooper at the fraternity’s president, Cowling as a member of the pledge board, and Serrano and Larsen as pledges. Serrano allegedly set Larsen on fire. Prosecutors also said Larsen, Cooper, and Cowling lied to investigators, deleted evidence on social media, and instructed other fraternity members to destroy evidence and to not speak to anyone about the incident.
SDSU officials said they learned about the incident through an anonymous phone call. The school reported the incident to the campus police department.
All four students are due back in court on March 18 in preparation for a preliminary hearing on April 16.
SDSU Fraternities, Sororities Have History of Infractions
Phi Kappa Psi was already on probation at the time of the Feb. incident. In 2023, SDSU placed seven fraternities, including Phi Kappa Psi, on suspension over alleged code of conduct violations, including hazing and underage drinking.
In 2022, an investigation published by the San Diego Union-Tribune found 19 of SDSU’s fraternities and sororities had been in trouble with the school for various infractions from 2014 to 2019.
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In 2019, 19-year-old SDSU freshman Dylan Hernandez died after he fell out of a bunk bed in his dorm room following a night of drinking at a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity party. His friends thought he was asleep and helped him back into his bed, CNN reported at the time. Hernandez was found the next morning without a pulse and foaming at the mouth. He died a few days later.
Hernandez’s death prompted the indefinite suspension of SDSU fraternities affiliated with the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Out of the 14 IFC organizations on campus — who spent much of the previous year under a party ban — six were already suspended and four were under investigation before Hernandez’s death.
