Temple to make arrests in burglary case at off-campus Jewish fraternity

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has approved felony charges for a Temple University student and an alumna related to an attempted burglary at an off-campus Jewish fraternity on May 24 and July 27, authorities said Saturday evening.

As of Sunday afternoon, they had not yet been arrested.

About 4:40 a.m. on July 27 police responded to a report of people on the rooftop at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house in the 1900 block of North 17th Street, said Jennifer Griffin, Temple’s vice president for public safety.

Video shows the individuals banging on the sunroof and one male who appeared to be urinating into the sunroof once it was opened, though police didn’t find evidence of urination, Griffin said.

Temple police are looking into the possibility that the most recent incident was a hate crime, given the fraternity house’s affiliation to the Jewish community, Griffin said.

The university police department last month also released photos of a group of students who were atop the fraternity house that morning and asked for help in identifying them.

» READ MORE: Temple joins universities facing federal probe over handling of antisemitism allegations

The fraternity house also was vandalized in early May when someone wrote “Free Palestine” on the house and took an Israeli flag that had been hanging from the roof. And on May 24, city police investigated another report of people on the roof.

A 20-year-old male who lived in the house reported that people were attempting to get in through the roof hatch. Detectives are investigating the case as a burglary, city police said.

In reference to a possible hate crime, Griffin said, “We are investigating all potential criminal violations, as well as student conduct violation.”

In January, the U.S. Department of Education announced that Temple was under investigation for its handling of antisemitism complaints on campus; the move came among a spate of investigations at colleges nationally following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and subsequent unrest on campuses.

Temple said in a statement at that time that it would fully comply with the investigation and that it “unequivocally condemns hate and discrimination against any person and will always strive to ensure that all of our students, faculty, and staff feel welcomed and safe in our community and throughout our campus.”

The university is unsure how many of the people atop the roof on July 27 were Temple students. A female appears to have been present during both the May 24 and July 27 incidents, Griffin said.

The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity is no longer recognized by Temple. The frat was suspended in 2018 and its former president, Ari Goldstein, was sentenced to state prison in 2020 for attempted sexual assault.