“Has the school contacted you about anything yet?” Lucas Cowling asked after some persistent back and forth through a text thread on Feb. 19, 2024.
“Nah the police came to investigate me,” Lars Larsen typed back , “I j said
some Bs. I’ll prolly have to go talk to Carol and do whatever I’m told in order to get us off suspension.”
As previously reported by The Daily Aztec, this past January, four SDSU frat members affiliated with Phi Kappa Psi made national attention after allegedly starting a fire that ended in one pledge receiving third degree burns over 16% of his body.
The fire allegedly occurred while the frat was still under probation, along with six other Greek Life organizations.
The defendants include Caden Cooper, 22; Lucas Cowling, 20; Christopher Serrano, 20; and Lars Larsen, 19, who was the pledge injured from the skit.
In the preliminary court proceedings that start next week, the criminal case against Cooper, Cowling and Larsen, who were charged with unlawful conspiracy in an act deemed injurious to public health, will begin. Evidence in the case includes text message threads uncovered by SDSU police.
In the messages that have been uncovered, a majority of the communications between defendants Cooper and Larsen showed their coordinated attempts to create an alibi.
According to court documents, the fraternity members originally told SDSU Police that Larsen and his friends had been drinking in Pacific Beach when he had fallen into a bonfire – which they had to pull him out of.
Despite being the one injured by the stunt, evidence in the charges against Larsen includes text messages he sent, instructing other members to not share any evidence with law enforcement and speaking with officials to hide from the real incident.
“Coop is dealing with all the actives (members). My job is to deal with it in here,” declared Larsen.
Cowling also allegedly played a primary role in obstructing evidence by removing fraternity members from a “pregame chat group” thread on Snapchat and eventually disabling it.
“Delete the vid,” Larsen texted in a group chat hinting at other evidence of the incident that is not included in evidence detailed in the charges against the frat members.
The other two charges defendants are facing at this time include underage consumption of alcohol and reckless use of fire that caused great bodily injury.
At the readiness hearing on March 18, attorneys will discuss the facts of the case to determine whether or not the case will go to trial.
