Students arrested for robbing frat houses
Posted: Friday, January 7, 2011 12:13 am | Updated: 12:18 am, Fri Jan 7, 2011.
Former Sigma Alpha Epsilon members Jack Martin Hostutler, Jr. and Eric Francois Lanoue were arrested on felony charges of stealing items from fraternity houses Dec. 14.
According to a police report by the Gainesville Police Department, Hostutler and Lanoue stole a rocking chair from Delta Tau Delta fraternity at 1926 W. University Ave. at 1 a.m..
The two men also entered Delta Upsilon’s fraternity house at 1814 W. University Ave. through an unlocked second-story window and took a composite portrait, according to Delta Upsilon President Eric Weber.
Police found Hostutler and Lanoue later that afternoon on Fraternity Row with the stolen items in the back of their red Chevy pickup truck.
The two men were arrested and charged with burglary and theft, and the stolen items were returned.
Delta Tau Delta and Delta Upsilon declined to press charges, so the charges were dropped.
“Delta Tau Delta considers this matter closed,” said Adam Tagliero, the Delta Tau Delta president. “We have not pressed any charges and all the damages have been paid for.”
Police estimated the stolen rocking chair to be worth about $150.
The value of the the stolen portrait was estimated to be at least $75.
Interfraternity Council President Rajiv Ansani said the council would take no disciplinary action against Sigma Alpha Epsilon or the two men since they were no longer affiliated with the fraternity at the time the robberies occurred.
“It seems pretty clear from our perspective that these individuals were acting not under the actions of the fraternity but of their own accord,” Ansani said.
Both Hostutler and Lanoue were removed from Sigma Alpha Epsilon last semester during the fraternity’s reorganization.
Had the two men still have been part of their fraternity, Ansani said it would have been a “Greek conduct matter” and the council would have to had to have started a judicial process to determine the consequences.
Weber said Sigma Alpha Epsilon President Marcus Motes personally apologized for the robbery.
Motes is arranging for Hostutler and Lanoue to apologize as well.
Think Like an Editor
1. Who are the people affected? The people affected are the two men who were arrested, the members of the organizations they stole from and the members of the organization in which the two men were former members.
2. How are people affected or how might they be affected? The members of the two organizations who had items stolen from them are affected because their personal property was taken from them, and the current members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon are affected because their organization was reflected in a negative light in this story. The two men arrested for burglary and theft were no longer members of that organization, thus that fact had no relevance to their crime.
3. Why are you writing this? Burglaries that are out-of-the-ordinary occurred, and these burglaries affected large groups of people.
4. Who are the bureaucrats? The bureaucrats are the police and the leaders of these organizations. No ordinary members were interviewed for this story.
5. What are the key questions? A. Who committed these crimes? B. What was their motive? C. What were the stolen items? D. How did the men get caught? E. When did this happen? F. Where did this happen? G. What is being done to prevent it from happening again? H. How did these men steal the items? I. What was the relevance of the items? J. Do these men have a criminal record? K. Why were these specific organizations targeted?
6. What research must you do? The reporter must read the police report, speak with police and speak with the bureaucrats. I also think the reporter should speak with ordinary people. More research could include whether or not a crime like this has happened before.
7. Where can you go? The reporter can go to the fraternity houses in question to get a feel for the environment in which the crimes occurred.
8. What are you missing? This story is missing the reaction of ordinary members of these organizations as well as what is being done to prevent this in the future.
9. How can you be creative? The reporter, after visiting the fraternity houses, could describe their layout and general feel. Using the five senses in description adds depth to any story.
10. What is your vision? The vision of this story was to report a crime. However, due to the amount of fraternities in this community, I think an important part of the vision that is missing is why the two specific organizations were targeted.
This story does not address all 10 of Steps to a Better Story. Improvements could be made to the story by interviewing ordinary people, specifically asking how they were affected. Other important details that are missing are why those two specific fraternities were targeted and what is now being done to keep this crime from happening in the future. If I were editing this story, I probably would feel somewhat comfortable running it as it is above because it is newsworthy, but I would then want to assign some sort of follow-up story.
No comments:
Post a Comment