The case against Phi Delta Theta fraternity members accused of serving alcohol to minors at an Oct. 15 party grew more ominous last week, when police retrieved paperwork and videotapes indicating purchase of nearly $350 worth of alcohol earlier that day.
Police raided the fraternity's former house, located at 1437 Washtenaw Ave., Friday at approximately 8 a.m., an Ann Arbor Police Department sergeant who asked not to be identified by name said yesterday.
"They were looking for a paper trail," he said, "trying to find who was in charge ... and where the money came from. It wasn't for bodies, it was more for evidence."
He said the raid Friday was a search "for canceled checks and paperwork showing it was a planned event where people under 21 would be at the party." Police seized numerous copies of false identification and computer equipment likely used to create IDs.
"They retrieved items of evidentiary value. A lot of people had fake IDs - there were people with multiple (false) identifications."
The raid was the latest twist in the investigation into the death of LSA first-year student Courtney Cantor, a Chi Omega sorority pledge who was seen drinking at that party. She died after falling from her sixth-floor Mary Markley Residence Hall window early the next morning.
The national Phi Delta Theta organization revoked the campus chapter's charter following an investigation that determined fraternity funds were used to purchase alcohol. The house had been ordered to adopt an alcohol-free policy in 1995.
Possession of false identification is a misdemeanor, the police sergeant said, carrying a maximum 90-day jail term.
If investigators determine that alcohol played a role in Cantor's death, fraternity members who served her, a minor, could face up to a 10-year prison term and $5,000 fine.
Police named 13 fraternity members in criminal warrant requests on charges of violating host laws, George Cantor, Courtney's father, said Saturday. Prosecutors should decide this week if they will ask for any of the charges to be authorized, he added.
George Cantor received a call from AAPD on Friday night informing him of the morning's raid.
George Cantor said he hired a lawyer, Darrel Perry, several weeks ago but had not been in contact with him since then until these latest developments.
"The decision of what action to take next will be made by him," George Cantor said. He said the fraternity is the obvious target in this case and is unsure if the Chi Omega sorority is liable in the incident as well.
Perry has a background in engineering and may try to re-enact the events leading to Courtney Cantor's death to answer any questions regarding the safety of her residence hall room, George Cantor said.
The AAPD sergeant said police determined through interviews with the involved individuals that alcohol served at the party was purchased from the Meijer store on Carpenter Road.
AAPD acquired surveillance videotapes from that store showing five fraternity members - all of whom police say were underage - buying alcohol on Oct. 15. Friday's search warrant request says they paid for the $347.07 purchase with a fraternity check and used false identification to obtain the alcohol.
The warrant request also states that Meijer cashier Colleen Burga told AAPD Sgt. Tom Seyfried that the "event stands out in her memory because the young men bought every bottle of champagne in the store," plus hard liquor and beer.
George Cantor said the use of a fraternity check to pay for such a large quantity of alcohol was "as stupid as I could possibly imagine." But he said he doesn't blame the cashier for accepting a fake ID.
"I'm not asking the store clerk to be an investigator," Cantor said. "Kids look pretty much the same if they are 19 to 21. I can't fault (Meijer) for doing what they did."
Specifics on when the store released the videotapes to the AAPD were unavailable, but Tom Kulpa, director of the Meijer store on Ann Arbor-Saline Road, said he believes "the tapes were probably turned over very early on in the process."
"There were probably hundreds of tapes that they had to go through," Kulpa said.
Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Burke declined to comment Saturday on the latest developments because the investigation is still ongoing.
Phi Delta Theta president Mike Novick, an LSA sophomore, and fraternity members at the house also refused to comment.
- Daily Staff Reporter Nikita Easley and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
01-11-99
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