‘A clear danger to our community.’ UK looks to address fake ID purchases by students
University of Kentucky police will be working with local, state and federal law enforcement to address a rise in fraudulent ID purchases by students, officials said Wednesday.
Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood, an 18-year-old freshman at UK, died from alcohol toxicity, caused by drinking before an unsanctioned fraternity event at the FarmHouse Fraternity house. Fake IDs were used to purchase the alcohol students drank that night, UK Police Department Chief Joe Monroe said during a press conference on Wednesday.
The fake IDs were purchased online, Monroe said.
“This practice presents a clear danger to our community, and we are committed to addressing this issue,” Monroe said.
Purchasing a fake ID is a felony, Monroe said. Students who have purchased fake IDs have several options, he said.
“What I would encourage them to do is either to destroy those IDs or turn them into us immediately so that we can look at how that was purchased, and no charges will be placed against those individuals if they come forward and share that information with us,” Monroe said.
While students might not face criminal charges, they may face consequences for violating the UK Code of Student Conduct, Monroe said.
Hazelwood died on Oct. 18 after being found unresponsive at the FarmHouse Fraternity house. He drank approximately 18 one-ounce shots of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon within 45 minutes, according to UK’s report. This took place before the fraternity’s tradition of “serenades,” where members would visit sorority houses and sing to members.
Hazelwood was heavily intoxicated, and members of the fraternity left him at the house while they went to the sorority houses. He was placed on a couch and rolled onto his side. Students told police that Hazelwood was clearly intoxicated, but did not believe it was at a dangerous level.
According to the coroner’s report, Hazelwood’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.354 at the time of his death, which is more than four times the legal limit. His cause of death was alcohol toxicity.
A student later arrived at the house and found Hazelwood unresponsive. One individual administered CPR, while another called 911. CPR was continued until the Lexington Fire Department arrived, according to the report.
After Hazelwood’s death, UK suspended all activities for the FarmHouse fraternity and suspended all pledge activities for fraternities on campus. Following the investigation, FarmHouse’s status has been revoked by both the national chapter and UK and they will no longer be allowed to operate as an organization at UK.
For other fraternities to be reinstated, they must complete additional training related to alcohol responsibility and hazing prevention, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said. UK has also added additional staffing in Fraternity and Sorority Life, and part of their responsibilities will include prevention training as well.
Those trainings will take place both online and in-person, Blanton said. UK already has mandatory alcohol awareness training for all first-year students, but additional education will be added, he said.
“The issues of hazing and alcohol use are not isolated to the UK campus, nor — it should be noted — are they restricted to fraternity chapters,” Blanton said. “That is why we will be extending many of these initiatives to student organizations across our campus.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 3:04 PM.