DTD to be named in $250K suit

In the suit, the owner of the building housing College Buffet accuses the fraternity of damaging its roof. The owner of the building leased to College Buffet, located at 3901 Walnut Street, said yesterday that he is suing Penn and the local and national chapters of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity for $250,000, charging fraternity with damaging the building's roof. The fraternity has repeatedly thrown bottles and trash on the building's roof over the past year, said Robert Herdelin, who has owned the property for 35 years. Herdelin said he is shocked by the students' "outrageous behavior." The civil suit will be filed on Monday with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, requesting $15,000 for the roof, $9,000 for broken air conditioners, $50,000 for business interruption and property damage and $176,000 in punitive damages. Additionally, Herdelin plans to file an action with the City of Philadelphia to have the DTD house closed as a public nuisance. Alan Lee, the manager of College Buffet, said that he has seen students throwing trash on the roof out of the house's top story windows. And Herdelin said he found a trash bag on the roof that contained incriminating documents, including a phone bill that belonged to DTD brother Josh Lloyd. Lloyd, a Wharton and Engineering junior, admitted that the items were his but denied throwing the trash bag. He suggested that someone else may have found his garbage and thrown it on to the roof of College Buffet. "We have a common trash area [for the street]," he explained. "Anyone could have access to my trash." Herdelin has spoken to Lloyd about the trash, and he said he thought that the fraternity was at fault. "Did a helicopter drop it off on the way to Pittsburgh?" Herdelin asked. DTD President James Vergara denied the charges against his fraternity. He said the fraternity only admitted responsibility for breaking a car windshield after throwing a water balloon out a window in August. The fraternity agreed to pay $250 for the damage. Herdelin said that the victim had not received the check on Sunday, although Vergara said that they mailed the check the week before Thanksgiving. Vergara added that the fraternity cannot access their roof, which is locked. However, the house's top windows are above the roof of College Buffet. The local chapter has not spoken to Herdelin since September. In the meantime, he has negotiated with the DTD national fraternity, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and President Judith Rodin, Herdelin said. Negotiations broke down with Royal Surplus Lines Insurance Company, the national fraternity's agent, on Tuesday, December 1. Their highest offer was beneath $5,000 and Herdelin felt that it would be an "exercise in mental calisthenics to continue negotiations." Herdelin, who has owned all the buildings on the 3900 block at various points over the past 30 years, said he dislikes the effect the fraternity has had on the neighborhood since moving into the house in the fall of 1997. "They've got to put some kind of guidance counselor in these buildings," he explained, "They can't let students turn around and run the ship because they're out of control." Larry Moses, OFSA program director for the BiCultural InterGreek Council, has been working with Herdelin to resolve the differences between the two parties. Moses was unavailable for comment last night. InterFraternity Council President Josh Belinfante said that neither the fraternity or OFSA had informed him about the imminent legal problems.

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