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San Luis Obispo police have released the address of the San Luis Obispo home where an 18-year-old Cal Poly freshman was found unresponsive after a fraternity-related party.

The night before he died, Carson Starkey attended a party hosted by Sigma Alpha Epsilon at 551 Highland Dr.

Police are investigating the role that alcohol played in the tragedy and say that preliminary evidence indicates the fraternity was conducting hazing during Starkey’s initiation into the organization. Police are investigating the role that alcohol may have played in the death and they’re awaiting toxicology results.

Nathan Ellison Sandler, 21, of San Luis Obispo, was arrested Dec. 6 on suspicion of cultivating marijuana. He was booked into County Jail and later released after posting $20,000 bail.

The department has served nine search warrants at nine locations in connection with their investigation, including the Highland home and Starkey’s dorm room.

During the warrant searches, police arrested two residents of a home on Grand Avenue in San Luis Obispo on allegations that are not related to the hazing investigation, according to Capt. Dan Blanke.

They are Charles Timothy Farrell, 21, of San Luis Obispo, and Nathan Ellison Sandler, 21, of San Luis Obispo.

Farrell was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine and marijuana and Sandler on suspected cultivation of marijuana.

Dead Cal Poly fraternity pledge may have been hazed, police say
Police are focusing on a fraternity’s possible role in the death of 18-year-old pledge Carson Starkey; search warrants are served at members’ homes
By Nick Wilson and Sally Connell
San Luis Obispo police have confirmed they are investigating the death of 18-year-old Cal Poly student Carson Starkey as an alcohol-related hazing incident, focusing on the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Police were called to a San Luis Obispo home at 6:24 a.m. Dec. 2 after fraternity members found Starkey, a pledge, unconscious.

Starkey was taken by ambulance to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The location of the house where Starkey died is being withheld by San Luis Obispo police. Starkey, who is from Austin, Texas, lived in the Cal Poly dorms.

A related search warrant in the case was served Dec. 5 on a San Luis Obispo residence near Cal Poly where fraternity members also live, but police Capt. Dan Blanke said that warrant was not issued at the house where Starkey died. The Dec. 5 search warrant sought information about two male students and was filed by San Luis Obispo police Officer Chad Pfarr, a copy of the warrant shows.

It sought all alcoholic beverages, receipts for alcohol, computers, keyboards, cell phones and other electrical data and storage equipment.

The warrant also sought all Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity doctrines, pledge books, and “related material including new member and initiation processes and/or social activities and video or photographic evidence of such events.”

Pfarr also filed a search warrant Dec. 4 for an undisclosed location in San Luis Obispo, according to Superior Court records, but it remains sealed. Blanke said that “a few search warrants” had been served in connection with the case but declined to say how many.

Police have been tight-lipped about the investigation, and Blanke said part of the reason is that they were trying to interview all of the fraternity members, pledges and others who might have been aware of the incidents leading up to Starkey’s death.

Today is the last day of finals at Cal Poly before the winter break, and Blanke said Thursday that many students have already left the area.

“Fraternity members have circled the wagons,” Blanke said.

Fraternity members contacted by The Tribune have declined to be interviewed.

Possible hazing

Hazing is a general term for any ritualized initiation, but it is specifically identified in the California Penal Code as involving initiation into any student organization.

Hazing can run the gamut from performing uncomfortable or demeaning acts such as eating raw garlic in large quantities to dressing in strange costumes.

But the most notorious and criminal episodes involve fraternities where pledges were required to drink large amounts of alcohol, sometimes with fatal consequences, or to engage in other dangerous behavior.

Examples of other crimes that are being investigated can include supplying alcohol to minors, Blanke said.

Hazing is a violation of Penal Code 245.6, and it can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony if the hazing results in bodily injury or death.

Cal Poly immediately suspended Sigma Alpha Epsilon from all activities until the investigation into Starkey’s death is complete. The local chapter has also been suspended by the national fraternity organization.

Stephen Lamb, associate director of Student Life & Leadership on campus, said the university will take action if any charges are proved true.

“In cases of hazing, the university is looking at it very seriously,” Lamb said. “Suspension, expulsion, all are on the table.”

Lamb said there is a roster of 54 members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, with 17 being pledges or associated members, as Starkey was.

Blanke said Starkey returned from a trip home to Texas on the night of Nov. 30, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. The night before he died, Starkey attended a party at the house where he was later found unconscious.

The Tribune has formally requested various information related to the investigation, but the city has justified withholding the place of death by saying to release it would impede the investigation. The Tribune has also requested a tape recording of the 911 call for emergency assistance and complaints of violations at the home where Starkey died.

One of the leaders of Cal Poly’s fraternity council, who spoke on condition that his name not be used, said Starkey’s death gives a bad name to much of the good that comes from the Greek system.

He decried hazing, saying the tragedy is a reminder to students to avoid any actions that could lead to death, such as heavy drinking.

“No fraternity should even flirt with the idea of hazing,” he said.

The Crimson White has confirmed details with a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity about the hazing incident that resulted in that fraternity’s removal from campus.

The fraternity member, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed the incident, which occurred last month, involved the heating of a metal chair by means of a blowtorch or iron.

Once the chair was heated, pledges were asked to sit down on the heated chair, though the fraternity member said that no pledge was forced or required to do so by anyone present.

The incident was uncovered, the fraternity member confirmed, when one of the pledges went to DCH Regional Medical Center for burn treatment several days after the incident occurred. The wounds were discovered in an advanced stage of infection, and the pledge suffered a collapsed lung as a result of the infection.

Soon thereafter, the University of Alabama received a call from “an outside source,” said Tim Hebson, dean of students. The call informed the Office of the Dean of Students of the hazing incident.

Hebson said, however, that no one from the fraternity had come forward to press charges or make a formal complaint to the university, making any charges from the victims unlikely.

Hebson said his office would conduct an investigation of the incident, following “due process.”

The fraternity’s suspension, Hebson said, was invoked by the Sigma Phi Epsilon national chapter, which enacted the punishment before the university could carry out any action.

Aaron Jarnger, director of marketing and communications for the Sigma Phi Epsilon national chapter, said the university contacted the national chapter with information from a confidential source.

He said staff members from the national chapter were sent to the university to investigate the incident.

“If there’s some evidence of hazing, we conduct an investigation,” Jarnger said.

Jarnger said he could not release any details of the incident because it is still under investigation.

Hebson said the fraternity’s local Alumni Board submitted a list of about 30 names for investigation. His office will hold hearings to determine what type of actions will be taken toward the individuals in question.

“Greek life is strong [at the university], but no one is above being kicked off of campus,” Hebson said. “We want everyone to have a safe experience at the university.”

Hebson did say, however, that their investigation is more about finding the individuals responsible for the hazing incident and not punishing the chapter as a whole.

The Office of the Dean of Students has outlined several anti-hazing measures that have worked with relative success, Hebson said. The university’s anti-hazing policy is reviewed by each chapter president and advisor with the entire membership of the organization, including alumni, associate members and pledges.

The chapter president, chapter advisor, new member educator and faculty advisor sign a copy of the anti-hazing policies, which can be read below, indicating that their organization will follow and adhere to this policy. Violation of this agreement subjects the organization to punishment.

Punishment for violation of the anti-hazing policy can come with a stiff penalty. Alabama is one of 31 states with anti-hazing legislation, according to the Office of the Dean of Students. As such, those who violate the university’s anti-hazing policies can be charged with a Class-C misdemeanor, or may be named in both criminal and civil prosecution.

Ralph Clements, president of the fraternity’s local Alumni Board, said board members conducted an investigation as well.

Clements said the board asked questions to anyone who may have been involved, compiled the list of names that was submitted to the Office of the Dean of Students and wrote a summary of what they uncovered.

Clements said their investigation was an internal matter.

“The alumni board wants to return Sigma Phi Epsilon to campus as soon as possible,” Clements said.

—With additional reporting from Dave Folk, Phil Owen and Paul Thompson