State Police on May 3 arrested a Willington, CT man, David Vallejo, 23, following an investigation into alleged UConn frat hazing that resulted in charges for Disorderly Conduct, Assault 3, Strangulation/Suffocation and Unlawful Restraint 2.
The redacted arrest warrant said the reporting party had been in the initiation process for a UConn fraternity when Vallejo, identified as the head pledge master and president of the fraternity, assaulted the reporting party.
The victim told state police that during the frat initiating process, “hazing” included a physical assault involving Mr. Vallejo pushing the person up against a wall and choking the person by putting his right forearm across the person’s neck.
Police said the reporting party described becoming disoriented after being choked.
David Vallejo. Photo courtesy CT State Police May 7, 2024
According to the arrest warrant, the victim and another individual were picked up at their UConn dorm by Vallejo in a Honda Civic on the fifth day of initiation, Feb 8, 2024, and brought to a location on the Tolland Turnpike in Willington where they were lined up “military style.”
When the victim and the other applicant made mistakes reciting the pledge masters’ words, the pledge masters told them to do push-ups while reciting what they were saying.
The reporting described becoming exhausted and falling to the ground, and being made to start over. The victim said Vallejo became angry and started yelling and grabbed the victim by the uniform shirt they were required to wear and threw the victim across the room into a wall. After falling down, the victim described being rolled into the wall at which point Vallejo yelled to “speed it up.” When the victim stood up Vallejo allegedly pressed his right forearm against the victim’s throat and yelled at the victim who started crying. The victim said Vallejo stepped back and told the victim to go back into a standing position and recite the fraternity’s “code.”
The victim eventually getting the code right and was allowed to finish for the night, but when changing clothes later, noticed bruising on arms, elbows and kneecaps.
The next day, the 6th day of initiation, the victim and another person were picked up and brought back to the Tolland Turnpike where again they were instructed to recite the “code.”
Under instruction of Vallejo and other pledge masters the two pledges started to learn new information about the fraternity under, but were made to get in the push-up position after they didn’t recite the information correctly. The victim fell much sooner than the previous night as a result of being tired from the previous night. Vallejo yelled saying, ‘The pain is just an excuse; I know you can do better,” but the victim could not hold the push-up position due to the pain of the existing bruising. Vallejo became annoyed because the victim made noises from the pain, and allegedly grabbed the victim and threw the victim across the room.
According to the arrest warrant, the victim described hysterically crying and Vallejo saying to “stop moaning” and that it was the victim’s last night and making the victim take the uniform off.
After the victim told Vallejo they were not going to quit, Vallejo instructed the victim to get back in the push-up position and recite the “code” correctly, and pushed the victim up against a wall and pressed his right forearm into the victim’s neck and choking the victim.
After the victim took off the uniform, Vallejo took the victim aside, and allegedly was “nicer” after that.
The next day, Feb 10, 2024, the victim described texting Vallejo about plans to drop out of the fraternity and refusing to pay the remainder of the initiation fee. The victim later returned the fraternity uniform and was assaulted by Vallejo again, which the victim reported to the UConn Police Dept.
The reporting party provided state police photos of injuries sustained, which police said in their affidavit were consistent with the statement provided.
State Police attempted to contact the other fraternity applicant but voicemails were not returned.
On April 15, state police reached Vallejo by phone and asked him to come to Troop C barracks for an interview but he said he wanted to consult an attorney.
State police applied for and received an arrest warrant for Vallejo.
Vallejo’s LinkedIn says his activities include Mexican Student Association and the Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity.
The school’s fraternity directory says “Lambda Theta Phi, Latin Fraternity, Inc., LAMBDA Chapter, was founded on February 24, 1991 at the University of Connecticut by seven forward thinking Latinos determined to make a difference on their campus and in their communities by speaking out as group when the cries of the individual fell on deaf ears.” The frat’s motto is “Chivalry Above Self.”
After being processed by state police Vallejo was released on $30,000 bond and has a date in court in Rockville on May 21, 2024.