UK fraternity members allegedly broke into house armed with golf clubs before suspension
Within the same month, members of the University of Kentucky’s former Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity hosted parties that broke the university’s COVID-19 protocols, served alcohol to underage students and allegedly broke into a house armed with “golf clubs and other dangerous instruments,” records obtained from the university show.
At 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 25 of last year, approximately 30-40 SAE members broke through a window and through the front door of a Lexington home, a UK Police report from the day shows. It was first reported by the Kentucky Kernel. Members allegedly broke a TV, threw beer bottles and cornered some of the occupants of the house.
Officers responded to a house on Waller Avenue in response to a large disorder, Lexington police spokesperson Brenna Angel said. Three individuals — David Roth, 21, Dylan Carrington, 22, Colin Malloy, 20 — were charged with second-degree burglary in relation to the incident, police said.
All three faced $10,000 bonds and will have preliminary hearings in Fayette District Court on Friday. Malloy’s online court record states that he have no contact with members of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.
The alleged break-in occurred months before the fraternity would be served a two-year suspension by the university, which stated then that members violated university policies related to COVID-19 guidelines and alcohol misuse. Recently, the university also increased the fraternity’s suspension to six years, adding charges related to “damage and destruction” and “harm and threat of harm” to the university’s reasoning for the suspension.
Delta Sigma Phi is also suspended until 2022 for violations relating to harm and threat of harm and COVID-19 violations. UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said Tuesday that the Delta Sigma Phi suspension was related to the “off-campus altercation with SAE in September.” Delta Sigma Phi members who lived in the fraternity’s house on Columbia Terrace have also had to move out.
In an internal email about the incident acting Dean of Students Trisha Clement-Montgomery said it “sounds pretty severe.”
Approximately 8-10 people where inside the house when it was broken into — although it’s unclear who was inside the house and where it was located as that information is redacted.
When Lexington police officers arrived, SAE members were barricaded inside the house and refused to answer the door for police, the report shows. The front door was observed to have been forced open and there was blood near the broken window, the police report stated. Three injured members of the fraternity later arrived at UK Chandler Hospital’s emergency room, claiming to have been jumped but were “inconsistent” about the location and time.
According to the UK police report, the incident was related to a dispute over the rental of the house, which was reportedly owned by an SAE member’s mother.
Prior to the alleged break-in, the fraternity hosted a party on Sept. 1 — during fraternity recruitment — that broke the university’s COVID-19 social distancing policies and where alcohol was allegedly served to underage individuals, a report relating to the university’s investigation of the fraternity states. The report states that Snapchat photos from the events, which had SAE flags in the background, along with eyewitness testimony confirmed the university assertion that the fraternity broke university policy.
Representatives of the fraternity before a university disciplinary board disputed the accounts and said there was no party and that “anyone could buy an SAE flag.” However, investigators found the fraternity’s account to not be credible because of conflicts in their testimony about who lived in the house.
Several UK fraternities hosted in-person recruitment events “which turned out to be parties in their off campus houses,” according to an anonymous tip to UK from someone who said they were involved in fraternity recruitment events. The tipster appeared to list multiple fraternities in their report, although only SAE was unredacted.
When recommending a two-year suspension for the fraternity, members of the university disciplinary board cited “the fact that past sanctions have not worked, and respondent has made decisions that demonstrate an extreme disregard for human life.”
Students who lived in the fraternity’s house on Rose Lane had to move out by Jan. 24, a previous letter to residents of the house stated.
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 5:33 PM.