Ex-Teammate talks about Syracuse high school students who are charged in the depletion incident

Gage Talucci has played Lacrosse for the past four years. But Talucci, a junior at Westhill High School in Syracuse, New York, said he finally decided to leave sports about two weeks ago to focus on “other things” like school and personal life.

A week after he left the team, some players will be accused of taking action called the District Lawyer “Steroid hazing.” On Wednesday, 11 students turned themselves into police after the Syracuse District prosecutor urged them to surrender within 48 hours or they would be prosecuted as adults and were charged with kidnapping.

Da said that if the players surrendered on Friday, they would be ticketed because of prison sentences that violated the law, but it would be handled through the family court system and not included in their criminal records.

“I think this is a mistake made by the good people I know for years,” Talucci told “Good Morning America” ​​on Thursday about the students who were charged with the incident.

Onondaga Regency Prosecutor Bill Fitzpatrick said he decided to submit a demand for 11 students – most of which were members of the Lacrosse team university – who allegedly confuted the younger students last month at the weapons.

At April 24th night, the students allegedly decided they would “fog or play a kind of joke on several members who were younger than the Lacrosse team,” Fitzpatrick said during a press conference on Tuesday.

A victim told officials that he would have a “pleasant night with a senior, go to Lacrosse match and finish the night with something to eat at McDonald’s,” Fitzpatrick said.

However, on the way home from eating food, the driver of the car claimed he was lost and stopped in the remote part of the country, which is when the “accomplice jumped out of the forest pretending to be a kidnapper,” said Fitzpatrick.

This accomplice, who is another student, dressed in black and armed with “at least one pistol and at least one knife,” Fitzpatrick said.

The victim has a pillowcase placed on his head, tied and placed in the trunk of the car, according to DA.

Investigators said there were four other potential victims, but they could escape from the area.

“I cannot really state to this community the level of ignorance and lack of assessment involved in this case,” Fitzpatrick said.

Talucci, who has been in contact with students who are accused of hazing, said they were “very stressed,” with a teammate who was so worried he could not sleep at night.

Junior high school, who has known the suspects since he was still in high school, claimed that they were “good people who made bad decisions.”

“I have known these children for a long time, this is not something I expect from one of them and anyone in Westhill in this matter,” Talucci said. “The whole story does not reflect every athlete or student or anyone related to Westhill at all.”

Following the news about the hazing incident, Westhill Schools supervisor Steven Dunham sent an email to the family who said the school made “Decisions difficult to cancel the remaining Lacrosse season of Westhill High School,” although the majority of them were not involved in alleged hazing.

“Some people may argue that all athletes must be punished for the actions of some people. While I understand the perspective, we must discuss the culture of the program, and the most appropriate way to do it is by reset,” Dunham said.

Talucci said the school’s decision to end the Lacrosse season earlier was “unfair” for other teammates who did not participate in hazing. Overall, he said he was worried that the incident could put negative perceptions in the community as a whole.

“My concern about all of this is that it will change the stigma that has happened with Lacrosse, that these children are seen as setbacks and the whole community is not good,” Talucci said.

Rosemary Talucci, Mrs. Gage Talucci, said she was “grateful” her son did not participate in the alleged hazing.

“Boys who do this are good children. They come from good families. They only make big mistakes and I think many schools can learn from that,” Rosemary Talucci told “GMA”.

Residents of Syracuse Kaeleigh Collins told ABC Affiliate WSYR He agreed with DA’s decision to sue these students on this incident.

“They are young children, and children are children, but that is okay and I don’t think it’s okay for any fog for any reason. You should be a community,” Collins said.

A lawyer for one of the players, Tom Cerio, said the students “acknowledge their actions inappropriate, and did not minimize the fear and difficulty experienced by other students.”

“I have seen video recordings about what happened to this young man, this is not a transitional rite, it is not a trivial problem,” said the district lawyer this week. “I feel that it cannot be understood that in this day and age, someone thinks they can escape with something like this.”