Police: WVU Frat Pledge Drank Heavily Before Death

  Police say a West Virginia University fraternity pledge drank a large amount of alcohol shortly before he died.

Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston said Tuesday that medical tests showed 18-year-old Nolan Michael Burch’s blood alcohol level was 0.493. That’s more than six times the legal limit of 0.08.

Preston says Burch was among 20 pledges who participated in a Kappa Sigma initiation function on Nov. 12, 2014. Each pledge received a bottle of liquor from a senior member or alumnus of the fraternity.

Burch says Burch became highly intoxicated. Officers were later called to the fraternity house for a medical emergency and found someone performing cardio pulmonary resuscitation on Burch. The Buffalo, New York, resident later died at a Morgantown hospital.

Preston says prosecutors are reviewing the investigation’s findings.