Community Corner

David Bogenberger Hazing Case: 16 Women Added as Defendants

David Bogenberger, 19, of Palatine died in November while attending Northern Illinois University.

UPDATED: 10 a.m. on Monday, May 6

On Friday, 16 women were added as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Cook County by the family of David Bogenberger of Palatine, according to the Daily Herald. 

The lawsuit alleges the women took part in a fraternity hazing ritual on Nov. 1 and 2 that lead to Bogenberger's death, according to the Daily Herald.

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

More defendants are expected to be added to a lawsuit filed against a Northern Illinois University fraternity and several of its members by the family of David Bogenberger of Palatine, who was a freshman at the school, according to the Daily Herald. 

Bogenberger died of alcohol poisoning and the lawsuit alleges that the women who were added as defendants "took part in the fraternity initiation ritual" in November that lead to his death, the Daily Herald reports. 

The 19-year-old Palatine High School graduate's blood alcohol content was five times the legal limit for driving at the time of his death.

In mid-December, 22 arrest warrants were issued for Pi Kappa Alpha leaders and fraternity members by DeKalb authorities. 

The Bogenberger family decided to bring the lawsuit against the fraternity in mid-February, and soon after the national chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha announced that the NUI chapter of the fraternity had been suspended due to circumstances surrounding Bogenberger's death. 


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