Hazing Rap For Ohio Frat

NOVEMBER 17--A fraternity at Ohio University has been charged with hazing after pledges were beaten and forced to "chug large amounts of alcohol" during an initiation ritual.

The misdemeanor count was filed yesterday against Delta Tau Delta after two pledges, one of whom was unconscious, landed in a hospital emergency room last week, according to this Athens Police Department report. The wannabe frat brothers told cops that they were blindfolded, forced to drink alcohol, and "repeatedly slapped around."

One pledge, Michael Pristera, was left bloodied and "suffered injuries to his face, chest, and back." The unconscious Pristera had hand prints on his chest "from open hand slaps to the chest." Two other pledges at the hospital told police that "they knew what was happening was wrong and illegal," but they declined to provide written statements about the hazing.

When Pristera eventually awoke and became alert, he told officers that he "didn't want to lose his friends or the Delt house so he didn't want to say anything." Pristera, who is listed in the police report as 5' 7" and 100 pounds, apparently got the worst beating of the dozen pledges who were assaulted in the Delta Tau Delta frat house.

When Athens cops served charges on the frat, Paul Kolbe, the chapter president, claimed that "everyone in the fraternity was shook up over the events" last week. It is unclear where Kolbe and other frat leaders were when Delta Tau Delta pledges were being knocked around. (5 pages)