No charges planned in UNR drowning

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

Criminal charges will not be filed in the drowning of an 18-year-old fraternity pledge from Las Vegas at the University of Nevada, Reno, officials said Tuesday.

The Washoe County district attorney's office concluded Tuesday that in the death of Albert Santos, the evidence does not "support the criminal prosecution of individual students," said John Helzer, Washoe County's assistant district attorney.

Criminal charges under the state's 1999 hazing laws were being considered, but authorities would have had to show that fraternity members required Santos to swim in Lake Manzanita in order to gain entrance into Pi Kappa Alpha. Helzer said the case did not meet that standard.

"It appears that the group swim to the fountain exceeded what they would have been required to do," Helzer said.

Witnesses said that Santos had told fraternity members that he did not know how to swim but could float on his back. While a group of pledge members began to swim toward the center of the lake, they left Santos on the shore. A few minutes later, he was found missing and ultimately drowned in seven feet of water.

Members of Pi Kappa Alpha were stripped of fraternity recognition by UNR on Monday. University officials are even considering making the campus dry as a result because it is believed that alcohol was involved in the incident. Santos was below the legal limit of intoxication, officials ruled.

Swimming to the fountain in the center of the lake is considered a rite of passage for some fraternities on the campus.