Police serve Sigma Chi warrant

By: Chase Purdy

Posted: 9/4/08

Junior Dylan Kessler never expected the police to return with a warrant. But they did, ending a three-day period in which Michigan state police slammed more than a dozen students with minor in possession of alcohol charges.

Kessler, president of Sigma Chi fraternity, said police approached the fraternity house about 1 a.m. Monday morning. They requested entrance on suspicion of underage drinking, but left when Kessler told them he'd feel more comfortable after seeing a warrant. Sigma Chi was not throwing a party that night. Several residents slept in their rooms.

Three hours later, Kessler woke to the sound of police entering the residence hall. They corralled him and his sleepy-eyed fraternity brothers into a room on the first floor and gave them breathalizer tests, Kessler said.

Several Sigma Chi members were charged with minors in possession of alcohol.

Sgt. Doug Schutter, of the Jonesville state police post, said police saw several people with alcohol enter the Sigma Chi house. He said the officers suspected some of the students were under 21 years old.

Schutter said police obtained a warrant and returned.

"The troopers were driving down the road to get to someplace else when they came across this," he said. "They took action when they saw what they saw."

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said the police hardly ever request warrants to enter campus residence halls. Police typically call him to the scene, such as when Alpha Tau Omega fraternity faced marijuana possession charges two years ago, he said. This time, police told him nothing beforehand.

"We had security around all night and there was no activity that night," he said. "At least I didn't get reports about it."

The college deans normally work closely with city and county police departments, but rarely with state police, Petersen said.

Petersen said police sometimes ask to enter college facilities to continue an investigation, and it is his practice to cooperate.

"It will continue to be our practice," he added.

The dean said he spoke to the police the following morning, when they informed him of the night's events.

Schutter said the state police are not required to inform college deans of their actions.

"We have no agreement with the college to do X if Y occurs," he said. "The city police officers might have sat down during the calm of the day to say 'if this happens we'll call you,' but we don't have an agreement. Anytime the dean is called it would purely be a courtesy call."

Petersen said his concerns stretch beyond the incident at Sigma Chi. Many students who walked along the street, some with open alcohol containers, fled from police when approached.

A junior woman's cell phone sat in the purse of one woman who ran from police. When she approached officers, attempting to retrieve it, they refused her, she said.

"They wanted me to tell them who the purse belonged to, but I didn't know at the time, and they didn't believe me," she said.

She said police answered her phone several times when it rang and proceeded to ask the callers for people she didn't know. She said she didn't know how the police obtained their names.

Schutter said the purse contained eight beers and the student's cell phone, among other items.

"We have a tendency when we come to a crime scene to take more than we really need," he said. "You never know when you get to a scene that's full of chaos, confusion and tumult what item is going to blow the case wide open."

Schutter said he could not confirm whether the officers answered or made phone calls.

The student said she felt uncomfortable with police officers using her phone.

"I felt like it was an invasion of privacy, and the fact that they were using my possessions, I didn't think that was legal in any way," she said. "They were allowed to take it because it was in the purse, but I don't think they were allowed to use it."

The situation brings many questions to the table, including inappropriate student conduct, Petersen said.

"I have concerns about laws being broken, period. It's a reminder that our students need to behave and follow the law," he said.

He said he didn't expect police would make the patrols a routine activity.

Kessler, who just took office as president of Sigma Chi, said this was the first big issue he's dealt with. He and his fraternity brothers continue to look for ways to make the best of a circumstance gone terribly wrong.

"It's a regrettable situation," he said, "but I'm very proud of the way everyone is handling it and how the house is coming together with it."

Kessler said at least one member from every Greek house approached him the following day to offer condolences.

Editor's note: The Collegian is pursuing state police documents to verify the stories contained in this report. As of publication, the state police have not replied to Freedom of Information Act requests. The Collegian is withholding the junior woman's identity because police charges are pending.