5 Wheaton College football players charged in 2016 hazing incident

Five members of the Wheaton College football team are facing felony charges for allegedly hazing another team member in 2016 and leaving him “seriously injured.”

Arrest warrants were issued for the players: James W. Cooksey, a 22-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida; Samuel J. Tebos, a 22-year-old from Allendale, Mich.; Kyler S. Kregel, a 21-year-old from Grand Rapids, Mich.; Benjamin Pettway, a 21-year-old from Lookout Mount, Ga.; and Noah R. Spielman, a 21-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, according to a statement from the city of Wheaton.

Two of the players turned themselves in on Tuesday, Kregel at 5 p.m. and Spielman at 10:33 p.m., according to a city spokesman.

Spielman is the son of former Ohio State and NFL player, and current FOX Sports NFL analyst Chris Spielman.

The five players’ charged with aggravated battery, unlawful restraint and mob action, according to the city. If convicted, they could face up to 5 years in prison.

Multiple media outlets reported Wednesday that the five had been suspended from football activities, but a Wheaton College spokesperson did not return messages seeking clarification.

Both Kregel and Spielman were released on $50,000 bonds, according to the sheriff’s office.

The five players and their families could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Cooksey, Tebos and Pettway had not surrendered to authorities. Bill Murphy, deputy chief of the Wheaton Police Department, said two of the three had arranged to turn themselves in Thursday.

Police were first called about 11:20 p.m. March 19, 2016, to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where the victim said he was seriously injured when the five players attacked him and left him in a field with his limbs secured with duct tape, according to the city.

Wheaton College spokeswoman LaTonya Taylor said in an emailed statement that the college strives to provide an educational environment that is free of hazing and “practices our values as a Christian community,” and was therefore “deeply troubled” by the accusations.

Taylor said the college took “swift action” to investigate the allegations after the incident was brought to administrators’ attention by other football team members and coaches.

The school hired an independent, third-party investigator to look into the accusations and took “a range of corrective actions,” Taylor said. The college withheld the details of the corrective actions, citing federal student privacy protections.

She would not confirm reports that the discipline included one-game suspensions and community service.

“The conduct we discovered as a result of our investigation into this incident was entirely unacceptable and inconsistent with the values we share as human beings and as members of an academic community that espouses to live according to our Community Covenant,” Taylor said. “We are profoundly saddened that any member of our community could be mistreated in any way.”

The college board of trustees launched a college-wide review of the effectiveness of its anti-hazing policy and the “culture around how students treat one another in our campus communities, athletic teams and organizations.”

The policy was revised in 2014 to require students to read and sign the policy each year, according to Taylor. It also requires annual training for residence assistants responsible for residence hall activities.

The policy, outlined in the Student-Athlete Handbook, specifically bans:

–Physical activity deemed dangerous or harmful;

–Forcing, coercing, or requiring students to eat or drink foreign or unusual substances;

–Nudity or forcing students to dress in a degrading manner;

–Any act likely to compromise the dignity of a student; cause embarrassment or shame to a student; cause a student to be the object of ridicule or malicious amusement; or inflict psychological or emotional harm;

–Any mischievous activity that threatens and intimidates or endangers the health, physical, or emotional well-being of a student or that results in damage, malicious vandalism, or general disregard for College or private property.

–Any act undertaken in connection with an initiation to membership for any athletic team.

“Despite these deeply troubling charges, we have experienced positive changes on campus, including rapid responses from campus leaders to reports of hazing or other inappropriate behavior and effective disciplinary review,” Taylor said.

Murphy said the investigation by the Wheaton Police Department was not influenced by the college’s own disciplinary actions.

“They could’ve kicked them all out of school and we’d still be doing what we’re doing,” Murphy said.

Kregel plays center for the Division III Thunder and was a second-team All-American in 2016. Pettway is an offensive lineman; Cooksey and Spielman are defensive linemen; and Tebos is a linebacker.

In recent years, hazing incidents have been reported at Maine West High School, Loyola University and the University of Chicago. In 2012, a freshmen at Northern Illinois University died during a fraternity hazing ritual.