Four UB students were arrested and charged with hazing by University Police on Sunday for abducting a fellow student from the Ellicott Complex.
According to officials, the incident was fraternity related. All five of the students involved were associated with the fraternity Delta Sigma Phi, said John Grela, director of public safety.
David Smith, Brian Field, Lewis Goldsmith and Jonathan Schechter were all charged with second degree hazing. The charge was not first degree because no one was hurt during the incident.
Grela said the University Police were notified by a caller who witnessed the abduction.
"We got a call that six to eight guys where dragging an individual into a van and that it was against his will," Grela said.
Police then searched the campus for a van matching the caller's description. Soon after, responding officers found the matching van stopped on Millersport Highway near Maple Road, Grela said.
"We found the vehicle, and we found an individual tied up in plastic twist ties in the back seat," Grela said. "Upon further investigation we found it was involved with fraternity hazing."
Grela added the four arrested students were also referred to the Student-Wide Judiciary.
According to Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs, it is university policy to suspend students who are charged with hazing.
"Student accused of hazing are uniformly suspended from the University at Buffalo," Black said.
The students will be suspended until the Student-Wide Judiciary hands down a ruling.
"Then the Student-Wide Judiciary can made a judgment to return them to the university, return them with sanctions, or expel them," he said.
Black added it does not matter that Delta Sigma Phi is not a UB-affiliated fraternity. Regardless, all those involved are "UB students charged with criminal activity and stupidity," he said.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
