Student charged with arson

Three Zeta Psi brothers allegedly started a fire on the front porch of the Tabard Society house. Three students were charged with arson after a "prank gone wrong" early Tuesday morning in front of the Tabard Society house at 41st and Pine streets, police said. The District Attorney's office charged Engineering junior Zayd Hammam, College sophomore Seth Schorr and Engineering sophomore Tim Young with arson -- a felony charge -- after they allegedly lit a fire on the house's porch, University Police Sgt. Thomas Rambo said. The three Zeta Psi brothers have been suspended by their fraternity pending the results of the investigation, chapter President Carter Caldwell said last night. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities," the College sophomore said. "We do not condone any of the activities allegedly involved." Rambo explained that University Police officers Mike Sylvester and Len Harrison observed a fire on the porch of the Tabard house at 319 South 41st Street at approximately 12:55 a.m. Tuesday. The officers witnessed two men at the scene fleeing north on 41st Street in a black Jeep Cherokee "at a high rate of speed." The men later returned to the house, where Sylvester and Harrison arrested the three suspects and transported them to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau. According to Rambo, a resident of the house saw a note reading "Tabard will pay for your tricks -- you cannot play" pinned to the front door. In a report in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, police said the three allegedly "placed a metal mailbox filled with pieces of an artificial fireplace log" on the porch before lighting the object on fire. "Pranks like this can't be played," Rambo said. "They could have cost someone their life." No injuries were reported, he added, and the house was not damaged in the incident. University officials would not say yesterday if any disciplinary action has been taken against the students, and refused to speculate if such action will be taken in the future. Office of Student Conduct Director Michele Goldfarb -- who said she had been aware of the incident -- would not confirm if her office is handling the case, but said the incident is "the kind of conduct that ordinarily is referred to our office." She added that she had not seen this type of incident in her 1 1/2 years at the University. In a prepared statement, University spokesperson Ken Wildes said the University "cannot and will not tolerate behavior of this kind." "Clearly, if the facts are as presented, the students who have been charged used extraordinarily poor judgment and put lives at risk," Wildes said in the statement. "The charges made against them by the Philadelphia Police Department are extremely serious." And InterFraternity Council President Matt Baker said the incident was not premeditated by the entire Zeta Psi fraternity, stressing that the individual students were responsible for their alleged actions. "Obviously the IFC doesn't approve of such incidents," the College and Engineering junior said. "But obviously there's no reason to take action against the house." Baker said that the Greeks will leave all punishment up to the authorities, adding that "the IFC as a whole doesn't really know about [what happened]." Tabard Society President Jennifer Chow, a Wharton senior, declined to comment on the incident. Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Randi Rothberg contributed to this article.

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