Two college fraternity boys are being sued by the parents of a 19-year-old pledge who they allegedly forced to do some cruel tasks until his heart stopped beating and his lips “turned blue” in one of the worst hazing incidents yet.
The students from the University of Missouri, Samuel Gandhi and Alex Wetzler are being sued by the family of Danny Santulli after they force-fed him a whole bottle of Tito’s vodka and beer as part of Phi Gamma Delta hazing.
The two boys taped family-size bottles of vodka to the pledge’s hands and screamed “piece of sh—” at anyone who stopped drinking. In the family’s complaint, it is claimed Gandhi and Wetzler stood by as Santulli lay passed out on a coach. The teenager momentarily stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.
By the time he was taken to the hospital, Santulli had suffered severe brain damage. He is now being cared for by his mom at home, who quit her job to look after him.
Tragically, doctors say it is unlikely Santulli will ever recover his ability to walk or talk following the incident, reports MailOnline.
While Wetzler is no longer a student at the university, Gandhi, who is an architecture student, is still enrolled. Weltzer was charged with supplying alcohol to a minor, but as it stands, neither of the boys has been issued any criminal charge.
The depraved pair reportedly said they wanted to make the night of hazing one the pledges “would never forget”, and filled the house with cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.
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Prosecutors charge former MU frat member Alex Wetzler with 2 under age drinking misdemeanors instead of a felony hazing charge for his involvement with the hospitalization of Danny Santulli who remains unresponsive with massive brain damage and blindness. @KRCG13 pic.twitter.com/G4DxIe7mx6
— Mark Slavit (@MSlavitKRCG13) June 3, 2022
Santulli’s lawyer described the ordeal as “grim” and said it was “ the worst fraternity hazing case ever in the US in terms of injury”.
“You can’t be any worse injured and still be alive,” he added.
“He’s got massive brain damage, he’s blind, he can’t walk.. it’s unlikely there will ever be any material change.”
His parents have previously settled a lawsuit against 22 members of the fraternity, who have now been removed from the campus, but the latest lawsuit is specifically aimed at Ghandi and Wetzler, who were omitted from the original.
EXCLUSIVE – Pictured: Two Missouri frat boys who 'force-fed young pledge Tito's and beer until his lips went blue then dumped him at hospital' in 'worst ever case of hazing' that left him blind, paralyzed and unable to talk https://t.co/YMZwgQcvYE pic.twitter.com/XmzElwYIgy
— Tande (@tanndde) June 8, 2022
The report against them details how Santulli had endured weeks of hazing and was being treated like a slave by the fraternity brothers:
“He was sleep deprived, was having to buy things for the fraternity brothers with his own money and was repeatedly ordered to clean the brothers’ rooms and bring food, alcohol and marijuana to them at all hours of the night,” says the lawsuit.
“Making matters worse, during the pledging process, Danny had been ordered to climb inside of a trash can that had broken glass in it”.
On the night Santulli suffered the cardiac arrest, the lawsuit says the depraved fraternity pair targeted Santulli. Weltzer stood on a chair to look for a target before using a tube to pour beer down Santulli’s throat. He then told him to continue drinking the huge bottle of vodka which was taped to the boy’s hands.
When Santulli passed out and was going into cardiac arrest from the excessive amount of alcohol he was coerced into drinking, the pair left the room and did not return until midnight.
“At 12.28am, Danny slid partly off of the couch and ended up with his face on the floor but he had no voluntary control of his arms or legs and remained there until someone passing through the room saw him and put him back on the couch.
“His skin was pale and his lips were blue, yet no one called 911”.