BY CONNOR ADAMS SHEETS
The father of a young Flushing man who died of acute alcohol poisoning after allegedly undergoing extreme hazing by a fraternity-like organization at SUNY Geneseo has filed a $12.5 million suit against members of the group.
Arman Partamian, who was 19, had a blood alcohol content of between .39 and .55 percent, according to autopsy results, when he died March 1 in the headquarters of the group, known as the “PIGS” or “Orange Knights.”
The suit alleges that “Arman’s death and the damages suffered by the plaintiff were caused solely by the negligence of the defendants,” and demands damages due to negligence and wrongful death.
The suit, filed Sept. 22 in Queens Supreme Court by Hagop A. Partamian, also lists the landlords of the PIGS house as defendants.He could not be reached for comment.
Partamian began the initiation process for joining the PIGS on Feb. 19. Less than two weeks later he was found dead.
On Feb. 28, Partamian consumed an excess of liquor and participated in a “beer football” event, during which players drink beer after each play, according to the suit. He then played “dizzy bat, drinking gin, spinning around a bat, running a few yards, then repeating the process,” the suit claims. Two of the defendants, Orange Knights members Mark Boise and Alex Stucki, allegedly left Partamian unconscious at about 12:30 a.m. March 1 alone on a bed in the PIGS house, and another defendant, Adam C. Brownstein, found Armanian to be unresponsive at 10:45 a.m. that morning and called Stucki, who returned to the house and called 911, according to the suit.
Partamian was pronounced dead by responding medical personnel shortly after 11:13 a.m.
The defendants in the suit include Boise, Brownstein, Stucki, Daniel Wech, Henrik Suckonick and Devin M. McClain, all of whom were SUNY Geneseo students at the time of Partamian’s death except for Boise and McClain. Scott Kipphut and Scott Hilts of Kipphut and Hilts Enterprises, the landlords of the PIGS house, were also named as defendants.
A man who answered the phone at Kipphut and Hilts Enterprises declined to comment .
Wech, Stucki and McClain were charged in March with crimes, including criminally negligent homicide. The homicide charge was dropped against Wech, who pleaded guilty last month to first-degree unlawful dealing with a child, and was sentenced to three months of weekends in jail and payment of a $1,000 fine. Stucki and McClain still face the charges.
A Facebook group called “Alex Stucki: Not Guilty” has been formed in support of Stucki, Wech and McClain.
“This is a group to try and clear the name of Alex Stucki and his co-defendants in the negligent death of Arman Partamian,” the group’s description reads. “Destroying his life and his co-defendants [sic] lives will not bring Arman back.”
The SUNY Geneseo community was stunned by Partamian’s death, and spokesman David Irwin said the school has taken steps to educate students about the dangers of drinking and to discourage students from such hazardous activities.
