One of the two University of Maryland students arrested and charged with breaking into his own fraternity house waived his right to trial Friday morning in exchange for 24 hours of community service.
Nicholas Stehman, of Forest Hill, Maryland, has 90 days to fulfill this requirement, his defense attorney told the judge. If he does so, the charges against him will be dropped, and he will have the opportunity to expunge them from his criminal record.
Last month, Stehman and Luke Charla, of Larchmont, New York, were arrested in connection with a burglary at the Kappa Alpha chapter house. The students, both 20, are charged with fourth-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit fourth-degree burglary and malicious destruction of property worth less than $1,000.
[Read more: UMD police charge man with trespassing, burglary in Hagerstown Hall]
Online court records do not show a date for when Charla will appear in court.
Stehman declined to comment after appearing in Prince George’s County district court Friday.
Neither Charla nor Nikolas Utzschneider, listed as Kappa Alpha’s president at the university’s Interfraternity Council website, were immediately available for comment Friday. Jesse Lyons, a spokesperson for the fraternity, declined to comment.
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A resident of 1 Fraternity Row reported the burglary to police on Jan. 18 at about 11:38 p.m. after finding a white male with a beard attempting to enter a bathroom window, according to a UMD Alert.
The resident yelled at the man who fled with another man toward a red PT cruiser, according to police. Soon after, the students and the car were located and the men were arrested.
