Ole Miss Frat Boots Five Members Following Assault

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – A fraternity says it has kicked out a member and four pledges after some were accused of assaulting a member of another University of Mississippi fraternity.

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity’s national office said Friday that the incident was not a part of the chapter’s formal activities.

Around 4 a.m. on Oct. 6, Pi Kappa Alpha member James Declan Basile and four pledges – Tucker Cole Steil, Austin Rice, Christian Guy and Kyle Hughes, were found at the Sigma Pi fraternity house. University police say Steil and Basile beat Sigma Pi member Jeremy Boyle. Steil was arrested Oct. 16 on felony assault charges, while the other four face misdemeanor charges.
University of Mississippi officials say five students charged  had been trying to steal a donkey statue from the other fraternity house.

Spokesman Danny Blanton says the students told investigators they were trying to steal the statue from the Sigma Pi house.

Blanton says the university recently determined the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter could not be held institutionally liable after an Oct. 6 assault against a member of the Ole Miss chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity.

Blanton says the students’ actions were not part of what the university considers organized hazing, although one student faces misdemeanor hazing charges.