April 30 (UPI) — At least 11 students in New York were given an ultimatum to turn themselves in to authorities within 48 hours or face prosecution as adults following an alleged high school lacrosse team hazing incident.
On Tuesday during a press briefing, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick called the alleged April 24 incident “hazing on steroids” and “criminal activity” after students on a lacrosse team at Westhill High School near Syracuse decided “they were going to haze or play some sort of prank” on younger team members, he said.
Fitzpatrick’s order was for the alleged perpetrators to turn themselves in by “close of business Thursday.”
“You have 48 hours to turn yourself into the sheriff’s department and the following will happen,” he said. “You will be given an appearance ticket with a crime of unlawful imprisonment, a Class A misdemeanor. You will not be spending time in the public safety building, you will not have bail set, you will be released to the custody of your parents,” he continued.
His office is working with the county sheriff’s department, he said.
According to the sheriff’s office, there were at least five identified victims. No injuries were reported.
Fitzpatrick said he saw a videotape of the alleged hazing incident. But after the 48-hour window, “amnesty is over,” he said.
One student reported being taken taken to a remote spot in the woods and tied up after a lacrosse game and McDonald’s trip with upperclassmen.
“At some point by prearrangement, people came out of the woods all dressed in black,” according to Fitzpatrick. “They were armed with what appeared to be at least one handgun and at least one knife.”
“There was a period of time where he thought that he was going to be abandoned in the middle of nowhere,” Fitzpatrick added, saying listeners could hear “some individuals found it amusing.”
Fitzpatrick said an individual had a pillowcase placed over the victim’s head, tied him up and placed him in the trunk of a car.
The DA stated he was unaware if the student suffered any physical injury but “emotionally that’s going to be long term,” and that it was “incomprehensible” how “in this day and age somebody could have thought that they would have gotten away with something like this.”
Meanwhile, the Westhill Central School District said it was aware of the DA’s statement, would continue to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation but had no additional information to share publicly.
“While the investigation is ongoing, we remain committed to the values of student safety, dignity, and accountability,” Lisa O’Reilly, president of the board of education, wrote in a statement.
“We remain in close contact with law enforcement and remain focused on supporting our students and ensuring the safety and well-being of our school community.”