Arrests follow freak accident on college campus

(NEWSER) – A freak accident left the University of Connecticut reeling in October; now, six arrests may have it reeling once more.

Jeffny Pally was sitting up against a garage bay door at a fire station near her dorm on the Storrs campus around 1:15 a.m. when the door opened as fire crews responded to a call. The 19-year-old sophomore fell back and was struck by a Chevy Tahoe leaving the firehouse. Why she chose to sit in front of the bay remains unknown, but police say they've pieced together what allegedly happened in the hours beforehand.

On the evening of Oct. 15, Pally attended a party at the Kappa Sigma fraternity that revolved around building a homecoming parade float; now six frat members have been charged with alcohol-related offenses related to Pally's death, reports the Hartford Courant.

Pally arrived around 10:30 p.m. and stayed about two hours, during which witnesses say she had one to five beers; she reportedly drank prior to the party, and her blood alcohol content was .25, more than four times the drunk-driving limit.

Patrick Callahan, Matthew Moll, Austin Custodio, and Dominic Godi, all 21, and Dylan Morose and Jonathan Polansky, 22, face varied charges tied to allegedly purchasing and transporting the booze and permitting a minor to illegally possess alcohol. Their arraignment is set for March 8.

The 60-year-old shift commander who drove the Tahoe told police he did feel a bump as he exited, but assumed what he saw in his rearview mirror was fire equipment.

Pally's body was discovered upon the fire crew's return to the station for what WTNH reports was a false alarm sparked after two students allegedly set off a stolen fire extinguisher in a dorm. They face criminal mischief and larceny charges.

(Last year, a court ruled that parents could be held responsible for underage drinking.)

This story originally appeared on Newser:

She Fell Asleep in Front of the Fire Station Bay Door. Then Came the False Alarm

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