Raw Sewage, Dead Mice, Holes In Walls At Frat House Where NJ Teen Was Electrocuted [Photos]

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The national headquarters of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity said a 19-year-old who suffered a serious electric shock at their Rutgers fraternity house last Wednesday was a result of hazing.

"Hazing occurred that evening. The hazing involved a line-up and at some point water became involved," said Gordy Heminger, president and CEO of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, Inc.

At 12:26 a.m. last Wednesday, the Rutgers student, from Matawan, suffered a serious electric shock after he came in contact with exposed electric wires. This happened in the basement of the fraternity house, located at 106 College Ave.

Other fraternity members drove the unconscious, unresponsive teen to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was hospitalized in critical condition for several days. However, he is now "doing a lot better," and is currently out of critical condition, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County prosecutor said Thursday.

Heminger continued:

"Most troubling to us — that despite Alpha Sigma Phi having a medical amnesty policy — the students apparently hung up after calling 911, which likely delayed trained medical professionals from providing aid to the victim."

He is referring to the fact that someone did call 911 that night from the frat house, but the caller hung up. Rutgers Police responded to the house anyway, where they found frat members loading the injured teen into a private car.

Heminger said Alpha Sigma Phi will permanently expel any members who were directly or indirectly involved, and said he hopes Rutgers University will do the same.

Another teen boy was shocked that night as well, although not as badly, his mother told the media. He did not have to be hospitalized.

After the teens were electrocuted, the fraternity house was shut down by the city of New Brunswick, citing unsafe living conditions.

Parents of another boy in the frat house said they have been reporting problems since late August, when the college students first moved in. The parents reported water and raw sewage leaking onto their son's bed from an upstairs bathroom. Bedrooms on the second floor were infested with fleas. They provided photos of holes in the ceiling and in the house walls. The mother also provided photos of water leaking and pooling in the basement. Dead mice and mouse droppings were found in the house. The lock on the front door was broken and anyone could walk right inside; headquarters ignored repeated requests from the college students to put a lock on the door, she said.

"My son has had sewage leaking into his room since the beginning of the school year," she said, saying she did not want to be named out of fear of Alpha Sigma Phi seeking retribution on her son, also 19. "He can't stay there. He's been commuting back and forth from our house. And this is a fraternity that was recommended by Rutgers."

Alpha Sigma Phi, Inc. ignored most emails she and her husband have been sending since September, she said. The property manager, CLVEN Property Management, did respond to some of her complaints. Others they ignored, she said.

In the last five years, that frat house has been cited for numerous code violations, including 50 violations in May during a regular inspection by the state Bureau of Housing Inspection, Patch previously reported. A re-inspection of the house done in September showed 19 of those violations still had not been repaired, according to state records.

Because her son was unable to live in the house, the mother said she started asking Alpha Sigma Phi, Inc. in mid-September for a partial refund. She put down an $800 deposit, and paid $4,000 for her son to dorm in the house for the fall semester.

She said that email was also ignored.

"I would have taken half back, if they offered that," she said. "They never replied. I am extremely upset that I paid rent for a room that is uninhabitable."

Then last week, after news broke that the teen boy was critically injured by electrocution, Alpha Sigma Phi national headquarters shut down the Rutgers frat house for the remainder of the 2025-'26 school year.

The mom said she then sent yet another email, this time asking for a full refund.

Instead, she received an email from Alpha Sigma Phi Thursday telling parents their sons would only be allowed in the house for a brief window Saturday to retrieve their personal belongings. Also, the fraternity told parents they were expected to pay dues (another $4,000) for the spring semester, even though the house is considered uninhabitable.

The email, sent to parents Thursday from Steven Norris, senior director of housing at Alpha Sigma Phi, Inc., reads:

"Financial and Contractual Obligations: As previously outlined in your Resident Occupancy Agreement (Sections 5 and 7) and the Chapter Occupancy Agreement (Sections 2(a) and 3), the closure of the property does not relieve residents of their financial obligations for the term of their agreement. Rent payments remain due in full, and any damages discovered upon re-inspection will be billed accordingly."

"Alpha Sigma Phi is still requiring the boys to fulfill their lease agreement," the mother fumed. "We have to pay rent on a condemned home. I am furious. This is some brotherhood: Throw the boys out on the street and make them pay for the house."

When asked if the parents are indeed expected to pay for the spring semester, Heminger said:

"CLVEN Property Management will make those decisions and I would expect they would follow the provisions of the Resident Occupancy Agreement, that both students and parents agreed to, as it relates to what happens in the case of the chapter closing."

He also said the national fraternity does not own the chapter house.

CLVEN did not return an email from Patch Friday.

"We have reviewed every maintenance request submitted by the students since June and the mother’s story is not consistent with the documented maintenance requests," Heminger also said. "Every maintenance request submitted was completed in a timely manner. I am concerned about the amount of damage these students did to this house as holes do not just appear in the walls."

"This is nothing more than a distraction from the real issue at hand," he said. "A young man was critically injured and the chapter engaged in hazing activities that evening."

The Middlesex County Prosecutor has not filed any criminal charges for the teen's injuries.

Update On Rutgers Student Electrocuted At Fraternity House (Thursday)