WARREN, Mich. (WWJ) -- Warren police are continuing their investigation into the alleged football hazing allegations at Warren De La Salle Collegiate High School, after a new victim came to police Wednesday and said he will cooperate.
The announcement comes about 24 hours after St. Clair County Prosecutor Michael Wendling decided he would not be filing charges in the case, as suspects and administrators were uncooperative. Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer tells WWJ a new student came forward Wednesday, claiming to be another victim of the hazing.
"A father called one of my detectives this morning and said that he wants to make a report with his son, as far as his son being a victim and there may be others that are forthcoming," Dwyer said.
The investigation started back in the fall after the school cut the two-time defending state champion's season short on the eve of the state playoffs as the hazing came to light. An investigation by Warren police determined that football players used broomsticks in a sexual manner to taunt other players. Police said the incident did not involve penetration.
Dwyer says an interview with the new alleged victim and his father was completed Wednesday, and detectives expect other victims may be forthcoming. The commissioner says at this point, police have not reached out to De La Salle administration, given their "lack of cooperation" leading up to this point.
"It's very clear to the prosecutor and also to the police department that the administration at De La Salle is not going to cooperate with our investigation, so at this point we're not talking to them. Maybe in the future, the prosecutor will be asking us to work the administration into the investigation," Dwyer said.
On Tuesday, Wendling released a statement regarding his findings and said while he was "confident a criminal incident did occur," charges could not be substantiated at the time because of obstruction by the school's administration, noting they conducted their own internal investigation before coming to police.
"The lack of evidence is the result of multiple circumstances that are beyond our control. By the time the Warren Police Department had been contacted in relation to this incident important evidence had already been lost or destroyed," Wendling's statement said.
Now with a new student coming forward, Dwyer says the investigation is open and ongoing, and the results will be turned over to the St. Clair County Prosecutor.
Police previously said they conducted nearly 90 interviews of De La Salle football players and coaches, and 18 refused to cooperate in the investigation.
Three students who were involved in the hazing investigation filed a lawsuit in December, claiming they were racially discriminated against. The lawsuit noted of all the students initially implicated in the hazing investigation, the only three that were minorities were suspended from school. The students who were suspended have since returned to school.
WWJ's repeated attempts to reach out to De La Salle administrators have gone unreturned.