DA Files Charges Against SDSU Fraternity Members After One Student is Burned

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that four members of a fraternity at San Diego State University have been criminally charged in connection with a skit performed at a party that led to one of the young men being burned over 16% of his body. The four defendants, who were active members and pledges of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, were arraigned today in San Diego Superior Court downtown. All pleaded not guilty.

Caden Cooper, 22; Lucas Cowling, 20; Christopher Serrano, 20; and Lars Larsen, 19 were all charged with at least one felony. The charges include recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public, and violating the social host ordinance. If convicted of all the charges, the defendants face a sentencing range of probation up to seven years, two months in prison.

At the time of the incident, Cooper was the fraternity’s president, Cowling was on the Pledge Board, and Serrano and Larsen were pledges. On the evening of February 17, 2024, in spite of being on probation by the university, the fraternity planned a large party at their fraternity house. Defendants Cowling, Serrano, and Larsen pre-planned a skit during which Serrano would set Larsen on fire. After consuming alcohol in Cowling’s presence, the underage students executed the skit which caused burns to Larsen on 16% of his body, primarily on his legs. Larsen spent weeks in the hospital for treatment of third-degree burns.

After the fire, Larsen, Cooper, and Cowling made a concerted effort to thwart law enforcement’s efforts to investigate the incident by lying to law enforcement personnel, deleting evidence on social media, and instructing other fraternity members to delete evidence and not speak to anyone about the incident.

All the defendants were released on their own recognizance but with specific conditions imposed by the court, including not to participate in any fraternity parties, not to participate in any recruitment events for the fraternity, and to obey all laws, including those related to alcohol consumption. The court set a readiness hearing for March 18, 2025 and a preliminary hearing date of April 16, 2025.