Update On Rutgers Student Electrocuted At Fraternity House

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The Rutgers student who was electrocuted at an off-campus fraternity house last week remains hospitalized, but is no longer considered in critical condition, a spokeswoman for Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said Thursday.

The student is a 19-year-old man from Matawan, said the prosecutor's office. He suffered a serious electric shock after he came in contact with exposed electric wires at the frat house late last Tuesday night.

This happened at Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity house, located at 106 College Ave.

At 12:26 a.m. Oct. 15, Rutgers Police received a 911 call from the fraternity house, which the caller then disconnected. Officers went to the home to find other students loading the unconscious, unresponsive teen boy into a personal car, said the prosecutor. He was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was initially hospitalized in critical condition.

As of Thursday, the teen is "doing a lot better," and is currently out of critical condition, said the prosecutor's spokeswoman.

A second teen also suffered a shock from the exposed wires, but he was not injured as seriously, his mother previously told NJ.com.

After the incident, Rutgers suspended the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and put them on a disciplinary probation, a university spokeswoman told Patch. The fraternity is no longer allowed to operate on campus.

The fraternity house was also shut down by the New Brunswick Building Department. Last Thursday, the day after the teen was electrocuted, New Brunswick building officials posted a notice on the front door of the frat house declaring the building unsafe and barring people from entering it, NJ.com reported.

The fraternity house has been cited for numerous code violations in the last five years, 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.

"Rutgers-New Brunswick remains deeply concerned about the serious incident involving one of our students," a Rutgers spokeswoman said this week. "University leadership is in close contact with the student’s family, offering support during this difficult time. We hope for his full recovery."

Hazing Or Unsafe House? Rutgers Fraternity Suspended, Probe Goes On Into Student's Injury (Oct. 20)

First report: Rutgers Student In Critical Condition After Serious Injury At Private Home (Oct. 17)